To The Victor Go The Spoils
by SomniumArtifex
Summary: Alfie moves to District 2 to keep her family together, where she meets the charming Cato. Can she make it in the cut throat world of District 2 Career Tributes and keep her family safe? And what happens when The Hunger Games come calling? The truth about Cato and why he was the way he was. Story starts prior to the 73rd Hunger Games and is rated M for future lemons and language.
1. New Girl

District 2 was not like what I'd expected. The population was divided up amongst many towns scattered around a large, single peaked mountain. The towns were small and sat at the edges of quarries that marred the landscape like insect bites scratched into craters. Despite their proximity to the quarries, the streets and houses were kept clean and free of as much industrial dust as possible. Still, the houses were nothing grand; just simple brick boxes that kept the heat in during winter and out during summer. It was surprisingly unimpressive for such a wealthy District.

I was born and raised in District 4, the daughter of a Ship Captain and a Teacher. From the time I was old enough to talk my mother started training me for the Hunger Games. First teaching me the very basics; simple ways to find drinkable water, the plants that could alleviate aches and those that caused them, and how to find shelter. By the time I was twelve there was little I didn't know about the survival tactics that could one day save me from my fellow child. Captain Neilsson, my father, taught me basic fighting before I started attending classes, both in and out of school.

That was how it worked in District 4. Parents decided whether or not to train their children before the schools and professionals could take over once they were old enough. Only a small portion of children went into training, all that was needed was one for each year, to volunteer in place of any untrained citizen that may be selected. But it was always enough for there to be arguments between the Careers as to who would be allowed to volunteer in that year. Volunteering was brave and honourable, because it protected the weak. Still, the arguments weren't normally about who would volunteer but rather who shouldn't. It was honourable to protect those less equipped for the Hunger Games but, despite being a Career district, everyone who volunteered did so in the belief that it was the last thing that they would do.

Volunteering was honourable. Returning home was lucky.

My mother passed away shortly before my twelfth birthday, of an illness that we knew little about, except that in the Capitol it was easily treatable and rarely fatal. That started the decent for my father. He began to hate the Capitol and told me and my siblings that we were not to volunteer for the Hunger Games. Captain Neilsson lost his wife to the Capitol's neglect; he would not lose a child to their bloodlust.

I have two brothers and a sister. The oldest brother is two years my senior and the youngest two years my junior. My sister was five years younger than me. My parents both came from single child homes and my grandparents were long dead.

Then, when I was sixteen, my father died. Drowned at sea when a storm hit his ship one night during a routine fishing trip. The future of my tiny family now rested on the shoulders of my eldest brother, the only one old enough to legally obtain a full time job.

Which he did; although I have no idea how he did it. That is why I am now in District 2, because my brother somehow managed to convince a quarry to employ him and organise his transfer from District 4. It was something that rarely happened, most people died in the district that they were born in. Normally the only people who went to any other district were the ones chosen for the Hunger Games. The ones who were chosen to die.

It was my first day at the Academy. There were two career paths in District 2, being a Career Tribute and being a Quarry Worker. I didn't want to be a Quarry Worker and I sure as hell didn't want to be a Peacekeeper, which is what Careers who never compete in the Games become. I'd wanted to work on the boats like my father had but there were no boats in District 2, there were barely any bodies of water at all.

So what was I doing? I was doing what my father would have wanted me to do... protecting my sister. I would take on the Career classes but there was no way that I was actually going to volunteer for anyone but Maya.

My first class of the day was Survival Tactics. My brother Aloki was in this class, he still believed that being a Tribute was honourable and he wanted to bring honour to the family. I refused to let Maya take this class, she would never be a Career, I wouldn't let her throw her life away for the Capitol's entertainment.

Career Tributes in District 4 were not the same as they were in District 2. Here they were clique-y and arrogant. I didn't know anyone and they didn't seem too interested in changing that fact. Aloki seemed to be having the same problem, so I didn't take it personally.

"Do others really have problems with this?" Aloki laughed softly as we weaved stiff grasses into small mats and bowls.

It was obvious that some of the others were struggling, to say the least. Many seemed to have difficulty holding the reeds without cutting themselves on the sharp edges, let alone weaving numerous ones together. Aloki and I have been doing this for years, we knew where to hold the reeds to avoid cuts and had finished our designs before most of the class had gotten anywhere near half way, if they'd started at all.

I smiled to myself as I grabbed another handful of reeds, "We do have an unfair advantage."

I noticed that a few of the older Career's were watching us, their baskets were better than most but that wasn't hard to do. Despite being further along than the others, their baskets were still mediocre. I could see gaps in the reeds from ten feet away, guaranteeing that their baskets would be of little use for holding water and their mats would not keep the rain out.

"Okay, once you have finished one basket and one mat you can move on to shelter construction. There are some larger reeds in the open stations, you should be able to get some form of shelter together before class ends." the teacher announced before turning towards a struggling student.

I looked at my array of baskets and mats, I'd surpassed the requirement four times over and decided I should move on. Aloki was ahead of me, racing to the closest station with the cheesiest grin on his face. I knew what he was doing. He was showing up the others, the District 2 Careers. I would growl at him later, this wasn't a game; not in our family.

I sat down at a station next to Aloki and sorted out the supplied reeds in front of me. The reeds were long and strong, too much so. It would take hours to weave a neat square out of them and I couldn't tear them by hand. I decided to just go with it; this wasn't about being pretty or neat, this was about surviving.

Time passed with almost dizzying speed, as it often did when I was putting my skills to a logical use. Class was due to end soon and I had finished my shelter, a square of woven reeds skewered on the top of four sharpened sticks. It was just big enough for me to sit cross-legged under. And I did so, with my back facing the 'entrance' so that I could fiddle with the loose ends of reeds.

"Do you need a knife for that?" someone asked from behind me and I glanced casually over my shoulder at them.

It was a tall young man, well built and fairly handsome. His ruffled blonde hair did little to abate the ferocity that was so evident within him. There was no mistaking what he was. It was in his blood and in his fate. He was a Career Tribute, a Victor in the making. Although how close he was to completion was hard to decipher.

"I'm fine." I mumbled and turned back to the reeds. I didn't have time to be making friends with people who would so willingly throw their lives away for a one in twenty-four chance of fame.

"You're good. Where did you learn to weave like that? And so fast, too?" He was either stubborn or stupid, I wasn't sure which but both were annoying traits.

I sighed but didn't look away from the reeds, "District 4."

To my chagrin he seemed to take my response to mean that I wanted to talk to him and in my periphery I could see him sit down beside me. He leant forward so as to try to catch my eye but I remained stoic in my inspection of the reeds. It would take a lot more than a couple of blasé questions and a charismatic smile to win me over. Especially considering his suicidal career choice.

"So you're the one they've all been talking about?" he said, keeping his stare fixed on my face.

I shrugged, "I wouldn't know 'cause they haven't been talking to me."

"Well, there's been this rumour going around that one of District 4's best Career Tributes was moving here. And that she's intelligent, cunning and incredibly talented. And she is so breath-takingly beautiful that it's dangerous."

Still I didn't look at him. I knew he was trying to get a read on me and I had no intention of just giving in to him. Part of being a good tribute was knowing when and what to reveal to your opponent. As far as I was concerned, this boy was already my competitor. Should we both end up in the games this year, I didn't want any emotions to get in the way of my potential victory.

"Sounds like gross exaggeration to me." I said and glanced towards the young man.

I noticed that Aloki was watching us and he didn't look too happy about what he saw. There were a lot of reasons why he wouldn't like this scene and they all stemmed from the simple fact that we were all each other had; well, us and our other siblings. We were both looking out for our family and as far as we were concerned everyone was a threat to our fragile little family unit.

"I don't know," he said, "the beautiful part seems about spot on."

That comment made me angry, because I knew that he was expecting it to soften me. He was trying to get me on side but it wasn't going to work. I wouldn't let it. The idea that a stupid little come on would get me to let my guard down was so insulting that I could barely think of anything to say in return. Regardless, my tone was enough to show that I didn't appreciate his assumption that I was some silly little girl who'd roll over for a few trivial compliments.

"To be honest, I don't give a shit how 'spot on' the rumours were. I'm not here to make friends, so maybe you should go bother someone else with your lame attempts at flirting." I snarled as the teacher opened the door and the old school bell rang.

I jumped to my feet, knocked over my shelter in the process, and stormed from the gymnasium where the class was held. Aloki was hot on my heels and we made our way to our next class in silence. Combat Training. It was great to have a physical outlet for my anger and I was glad for the blonde boy's presence in Combat Training because it meant that I could keep fuelling my annoyance until I was absolutely exhausted.

It also meant that I could watch his expression change as he realised exactly how much of a threat I would be, if we were in the same Games together. Let's just say that he wasn't wearing the same expression when he left the Combat Hall that he wore when he entered.


	2. The Threat

That afternoon I caught up with Aloki and Maya at the front of the Academy and we started the long walk home.

It felt strange to be calling that little brick box our home. Despite Eitan's best attempts to make the place warm and welcoming, there was still a strangely sterile feel to the place. A feel that we all hoped would dissipate with time, so the house would actually became home.

We were all afraid that the house may never be home, though none of us would verbalise that fear. It may only ever be a box in which we protected out valuables from the weather. To us, home was in District 4. Home was the house in which our parents had showered us with love and affection. Where they, for the most part, had protected us from the dangers of the Capitol and the truth about middle-class living.

We may have been better fed than other Districts but we were by no means a truly rich District. Not like 1 and 2. District 4's saving grace was that food was everywhere. It was easy, and legal, to fish along the coast and the rivers. The heath land and forest around us were fair game to all, as long as we didn't take too much, and every home had a vegetable patch of its own. Food was easy but everything else was a struggle and most business' and fishing crews were family run, meaning that Reapings were a massive burden for the families. That was why we had Career tributes, not just to protect the children but to keep families together and insure that business didn't fail from the loss of said children. Also, having Victors did seem to boost the economy, bringing more income in than our exports alone could ever manage.

I smacked Aloki upside his head. He jumped forward and brought his hands up to protect his head from another strike. The look on his face was comical as he turned back to look at me, I would have laughed if I wasn't so annoyed at his behaviour today.

He hadn't stopped trying to one up the District 2 Careers when the Survival Class ended. He'd snobbed most of them throughout the day, choosing to eat his lunch away from the Careers and walking around like he was too good for them. During Combat Training he had bragged about his prowess with spears, not with words but with his body language and unnecessary flourishes. He was showing them everything he had, just to prove that he had it and the bluntness of it had made me so angry that I couldn't be near him during lunch. Also I knew that my pulling him up on it in front of the entire school would turn him into the laughing stock of the Careers, and I wasn't _that_ angry at him. Yet.

"What was that for?" he snapped. He'd stopped to recompose himself and refused to move again until I gave him an explanation.

Maya stood beside him, looking equally confused but somehow even more startled. I guess it's because she didn't receive the Combat lessons from our father, like we had. She was the most innocent member of our family and that was what I loved most about her. I would die to protect her from having to change that.

I made sure to speak in a clear and deliberate tone; there would be no misconstruing anything I said, "Acting like a jerk, that's what. This is not some trivial little competition between the neighbours. I get that you want to show them that you're from District 4 but they already know that and if they are stupid enough to disregard that fact then it's their problem, not yours."

"I didn't want them laughing at us. All they know-" I cut Aloki off before he got too caught up in his own defence.

"How do you know what they know? We've been here all of ten minutes and you're already making assumptions about them. If this were the Games then you'd be dead already. Is that what you want?" I snarl and notice that Maya flinches at the idea of Aloki in the Hunger Games.

He scoffed, "This isn't the Games. I wouldn't act like this in the Games."

"Don't be so ignorant!" I said a little louder than I should have and noticed that some of the other students, who must live in the same area as us, were watching us now. I dropped into a low growl, "For us the Games have already started. If you are Reaped then you will likely have to kill one of these students, do you think they won't remember your little stunt today? We'll finish this later, in private."

Aloki looked around and seemed to gather what I meant. The District 2 students were not particularly subtle and they had all stopped to watch us as we argued in the street. I didn't want them getting too much of an insight into our family life and felt overly exposed as their eyes followed us down the street. The sooner we got home, the better. Although I was sure that Aloki wasn't thinking like that.

I pulled Maya into my side, having noticed that she was picking at the cuff of her shirt sleeve. She'd never been good at hiding her emotions and sometimes I wondered if I was as obvious as she was. There wasn't a single emotion that didn't reveal itself on her pretty face, as blatant as the Capitol fashion sense was disturbing. There was no way I was that obvious and it made me wonder if maybe, just maybe she could have used more training by our mother and father. Although, even with their training it seemed that she was nowhere near as proficient as me or our brothers. It wasn't in her to be deceptive.

Even with training, Maya wouldn't last five minutes in the Hunger Games. She probably wouldn't even make it all the way through the pre-Games showcase. I could see her freaking out during her interview with Flickerman, or breaking down during the Training. In fact, I couldn't even see her making it to the stage at the Reaping without being totally incapacitated by fear.

It dawned on me now that my plan to remain aloof and disconnected from the District 2 Careers would not work.

Next year would be my last year as a potential tribute, after which it would just be Aloki and Maya. Aloki couldn't volunteer for Maya, and even if he could he was only going to be viable for two extra Games than me. Maybe if Maya was selected then Aloki would volunteer to protect her but in three and a half years time he wouldn't be able to do that anymore either. For at least two Games, Maya would need someone unrelated to save her.

If I put even a single soul off side it could spell doom for my sister. People had to at least be neutral towards me, so they wouldn't think twice about volunteering to save Maya. If someone hated me then they could force all the Careers to not volunteer should she be selected.

No. My plan to exclude myself from these people would not work, not if I wished to keep her safe.

I pushed Maya ahead of me as we approached the narrow steps that led up to the porch and to our front door. We still hadn't said anything to each other since I'd growled at Aloki and I could tell that the tension was getting to Maya. She would likely hide in her room until I'd finished arguing with Aloki, and we would argue because Aloki was nothing if not stubborn, and we'd be lucky if she re-emerged before dinner, if at all.

"Hey, District 4!"

Maya froze on the spot and I could feel the anxiety that rolled off her now stiff shoulders. I kept my hips pointed towards the steps and turned my torso to see who was behind us. Aloki was blocking most of my view with his almost six foot frame but his body language spoke volumes and I knew I wasn't going to like who I saw when I pushed him out of the way. He stood so stiff that I had to dig my fingers into his muscles to get him to even notice me.

What can I say, we did not trust anyone in District 2. This may not have been our home but this was our house and I didn't want them knowing where I lived.

There was a large group of Careers standing a few metres away watching both myself and Aloki was careful consideration. We had succeeded in making them both curious and nervous. Their hesitance made me anxious, I couldn't have them hesitating to volunteer for Maya if she needed it. Despite their curiosity and nerves, they looked just like every other group of Careers, ever. Proud. Confident. Devious.

I couldn't trust them as far as I could throw them.

"Yes?" I said as I steadied myself for whatever was coming.

I noticed that the Career Tribute that I had spoken with earlier today was amongst the group and I wondered if this was why he was talking to me before. Maybe this group was hoping to hook one, or both, of us and drag us into the convoluted politics of District 2 Career-ism. I knew a little of their complex ways, some of our Victors had learnt a little from their time in the Games, and I was sure that I would not like being directly involved in all that drama. All I wanted was to protect my family.

"We thought we should inform you that, if you are serious about the Games, the rest of us spend our afternoons at the Academy. Perfecting our talents." an older boy with dirty blonde hair said in a somewhat polite tone. I'm sure it was polite enough to fool everyone in District 2 but it sounded so false to me that I instantly made a note to never believe anything this boy said.

Aloki looked sideways at me, waiting for my cue as to how to respond. Whether we went with them or stayed here. How polite we were in return. How up front. How genuine. How nice, in general. Aloki may have been arrogant today but he knew that I was the expert at communication, between the two of us.

"Thank-you, that's nice to know but it's been a long couple of weeks and... tonight is not a good night." I worked hard to control my tone and pitch. I couldn't afford to piss them off too quickly.

The blonde boy must be the group's leader because no one else seemed to be allowed to speak, "Understandable. Will shortie up the back be joining you when you come? She looks like she could use all the practice she can get before the Reaping; you know, just in case."

Maya whimpered behind me.

My fears from before were confirmed by his comment. It didn't take a genius to hear the threat in this boys words and I really didn't like it. 'Come now or we're not going to protect your sister'. I wasn't sure how empty the threat was but I couldn't ignore it. District 2s were well known for being vindictive and I wouldn't put it past them to hold something so trivial against me. Against us.

I turned back to Maya, who was now looking at me with desperate eyes, "You go start on your study. Tell Eitan not to worry, we're just going to the school." Maya's desperation softened ever so slightly and she raced into the house. When the door closed behind her I turned back to the dirty blonde.

I strode past Aloki, my shoulders square and steady. I might be a good six inches shorter than this six foot something monster but that didn't mean I was afraid of him. It wasn't the first time someone had tried to use my family against me and I was sure that it wouldn't be the last. Back in District 4, I knew that the threats were empty, or at most shallow, and there was no risk if I didn't concede to it. Here was different and so my reaction was different; it even surprised Aloki, who gasped as I stopped toe to toe with the thug.

"I'll grant you this one leniency but if you ever threaten my family again then so help me God, you will regret it." I said with a snarl and I could see the brute flinch a fraction as he recognised that my threat was full bodied and wholehearted.

His moment of weakness was fleeting and he realised that I'd noticed it. So he came back on the offensive, "District 4 really does have itself some feisty females, doesn't it?" Some of the guys behind him chuckled but I noticed that not one of the girls reacted to it at all.

Aloki didn't like it though and he stepped up beside me, as tense as ever. I gripped his forearm in a silent warning for him to control himself but didn't acknowledge him in any other way, "Let's get to the Academy, 'kay? You know, sooner we get there, more practice we can get done."

The group's leader smirked at me and turned back towards the Academy, leading the group and Aloki and myself back the way we had come. I realised that they had deliberately waited until now to catch our attention, they wanted to know exactly where we lived and they wanted us to know they knew. I couldn't help but think that the rumours about District 2 weren't as exaggerated as so many from 4 believed.


	3. Alfie from District Four

No one spoke to us, Aloki and myself, as we made our way back to the Academy. We weren't here because the Career Tributes were trying to be friendly. We were here because they wanted to test us. To see what District 4 really had to offer and if possible, get us to reveal the weaknesses of District 4 training.

When we got to the Academy we found that the Hall in which Survival Class had been held was still open. There were two small groups of Careers in there already and it seemed that they were not affiliated with the group that we were being forced to participate in. In fact, when we arrived the other two groups started to pack up and then almost ran for the door. District 2 was nothing like District 4.

"So?" the brutish leader stopped and turned around. His little band of suicidal warriors fanned out to give him a clear view of us, "Where would you like to start? Spears? Archery? Swords? Maybe weaving?"

"It's your Academy, you should choose." Aloki was trying to be as polite as possible but I could tell that he was still raw in regards to the earlier threat.

The thug smiled but it was not in the slightest bit genuine, "You are our guests for the afternoon, the choice is yours."

"Archery." I said before Aloki could get a word out, "We need all the practice we can get in regards to Archery."

Aloki needed no help with Archery, he never had, but I think he got what I wanted him to do. In general, Aloki was good with everything projectile related. Mum was the first to notice his talent, he was just four the first time he speared a fish, and that was after just an hour of practice. Aloki had the best aim of anyone I had ever met and he adapted quickly to different weapons. He could throw a trident and shoot an arrow within seconds of each other, and he was lethal with both. In District 4 he was nicknamed the Long Range Tribute.

He understood what I had wanted and every arrow he fired at a target missed. Sometimes by a lot, sometimes by a little. It didn't matter to me, as long as he missed and didn't draw unwanted attention. I could see that it upset him because the District 2 Careers laughed at him when he missed by a lot and I noticed a couple of times that his aim would get better and better before he realised what he was doing and would go way off kilter again.

I didn't have to try to suck at Archery. My weapon of choice was the axe, which I knew to keep secret because axes were generally only feared in the hands of those from District 7. My specialty was shortened Halberds, axes with long spike protruding from the top of the handle. It was like two weapons in one, an axe for breaking defences and a spike for penetrating an enemy. Normally the poll, the back of the axe head, would be equipped with some ornate and deadly sharp design that could also be used as a weapon.

Halberds weren't the only axe in my repertoire. I could cleave a target in two with a throwing axe and knew exactly how to throw it so as to have it lodge perfectly every time, with the handle pointed up for easy retrieval. And if my only option was a sword than I would be able to make do with that. As long as it was sharp and I could hold it with one hand, I could wield it with enough precision to be dangerous.

My arrow lodged in the board of my target, just missing the outlined head. If only it were a throwing axe than I could put the fear of God back into the cocky, arrogant District 2 Careers. I noticed that Aloki had just shot an arrow into the red centre of his target and I could see the surprise on the Careers faces. He was starting to let his ego get away from him and I had to pull him up quickly.

"Fucking hell!" I squeaked as I tried to sound as surprised as possible, "What a shot! I bet you can't do it again." I stopped to watch him as he loaded another arrow and aimed. His hand jerked as he released the arrow and it lodged in the outermost thick black outline of his target.

He gave me a meek smile as an apology for not keeping his cool. I smiled back and patted his shoulder, "Well, at least you're getting a little better."

"What are you good at?" the leader of their gang, who I had come to learn was named Pierce, growled in frustration. The irony wasn't lost on me that someone so cut throat as this Career Tribute would have a name that was equally brutal, "I mean, you are Careers, aren't you?"

"We're both decent with a sword but our biggest strength is Survival Tactics." Aloki mumbled, maintaining an amount of humility that was surprising, for him.

"Survival? That's what makes you Careers?" Pierce snorted in derision.

It was my turn to let ego get the better of me, "I can throw a knife." I could but not as well as I threw axes, although I wouldn't tell them that. Knives, swords, and spears were generally the best things to brag about if you didn't want to give away too much. Most careers started training with those from the day they stopped shitting their own pants.

A second later someone was at my side, a felt lined box of throwing knives shoved under my noses as a silent request for me to prove it. I took a deep breath, grabbed a random knife and weighed it in my flat palm. I quickly repositioned myself to aim at the target and flung the knife. It lodged in the head of the target, right between where the eyes would be.

There was silence for a moment and eyes lingered on me. I assumed they were expecting me to throw another so I grabbed a handful of the flat pieces of metal and positioned them so that I could release and snatch, that is to release one blade and grab another within a single arm motion. I made sure to take a little longer than I needed to, I still didn't want them to know exactly how good I was so I thought good aim but slow reload was better than them thinking I was useless.

A minute later there were six blades standing in the target. I wish that they had all landed at the same angle but I wasn't that good with knives. There was one between the eyes, one in the throat, two in the heart, one in the stomach and the final one was lodge in what would have been my targets crutch. The last one was a message to Pierce because I got a feeling it would be more disturbing to him than any of the others.

The girls smiled and clapped. A few of the guys nodded their heads and made impressed humming noises as they inspected the target. Pierce didn't seem too impressed and he turned angrily to Aloki.

"And you?"

One of the girls chirped up before Aloki got a chance to say anything, girls were cutting him off left, right and centre today, "He is fierce with a spear." I got a feeling that she was reading a little more into that then I was comfortable with. And my comfort was not helped by Aloki winking at her.

"The spears are over there." Pierce growled and pointed to the far side of the Hall.

Aloki sauntered over to the spears. He pulled them from the rack, one by one. Inspecting them and weighing them in his hands. He was enjoying this way too much. I hoped he didn't think that us being here meant I forgot about his actions today, if he did than he was in for a shock when we got back to the house.

Without warning Aloki adjusted his grip on the spear that he was scrutinizing so that he could throw it and a second later it was lodged in the heart of his target. Not only was it lodged in the target but the head of the spear was within an inch of the floor, the spear having travelled through the half-foot-thick target and out the other side. I knew his aim and strength was impressive but sometimes it even took me by surprise.

Aloki's display of skill and power seemed to shock Pierce and his expression was barely able to cover it as he ordered almost everyone to leave. Practice was over for today.

I rushed to Aloki's side, grabbed his arm and dragged him from the Hall. If we got home in three seconds it wouldn't be soon enough. Pierce's shock had been nice to see but that display was entirely inappropriate. We wanted them to respect us, not fear us enough to force us into the Games because we were a threat. I could see them doing that. Either forcing Aloki to volunteer or not volunteering to replace him should he be selected.

The argument started before we had even closed the door and it echoed around the house as we went from room to room, yelling at one another. Maya was hidden in her room, well, our room, since we were sharing. And Eitan knew better than to interfere, he was just glad that we had gotten back in one piece. Eventually Eitan decided to go to bed, he was exhausted after work and Aloki and I decided to end the argument so that he could get some well deserved sleep.

My anger over Aloki's stupidity had me so riled up that I couldn't stay in the same room as him. I knew that going to bed wouldn't help me any because I was too angry for sleep. Instead I headed out the front door and sat on the top step, resting my back against the railings as I stared at the sky.

I had thought that I wouldn't be able to see the stars here. Something had told me that the sky would be too full of smog for the stars to shin through. But that wasn't the case. I could see them, as easily as I had seen them in District 4. It made me wonder if they looked any different here than in 4 and I found myself wishing that I had paid more attention back then.

There were lots of things that I wish I'd noticed more. There were lots of things that I wished I could change. I would give just about anything to not be in District 2.

"I never did get your name?"

What was it with people in District 2 sneaking up on others? Just because I was sitting on my front deck didn't mean that I wanted to talk to the general public. Was I not giving off the right vibe? Was my wallowing not obviously intended to be autonomous? Maybe my persona had been too personable.

I look towards the footpath and find the boy from this morning looking at me; looking down at me, he was surprisingly tall.

"What a pity?" I grumble but make no attempt to answer him.

He sighs, "I'm Cato. In case you were wondering."

"And if I wasn't?" Okay, so I wasn't doing too well on my 'don't put them off side' agenda but I was too annoyed to care.

Cato laughed before answering, "I'm still Cato."

This boy was either desperate for attention or genuinely nice. Seeing how I didn't think that the latter was possible in District 2, I settled on him being desperate and I felt bad for him. So I gave in, what harm could it be if he knew my name?

"Alfie."

"Is that short for anything?" Cato asked as he leant against the railing opposite me.

I could tell from his stance that he wasn't just confident but also definitely one of the popular guys. He probably had every girl at the Academy chasing after him, if he hadn't already given in to them. I scoffed at the thought that he would consider it 'giving in', likely he thought that he was doing them a favour. I knew his type, I'd dated his type. Arseholes, the lot of them, but what else would I expect from a District 2 Career. The only way he could be worse would be if he was from District 1.

"Nope." I said, popping the 'p' to emphasise my boredom with this conversation. Then something occurred to me, "Have you been waiting for me all evening?"

He smiled at me, "I'd wait all day for someone like you." he said with a wink, "But seriously, nah. I live just over there." he pointed to a house on the other side of the street, a few houses down from being directly opposite.

I didn't know what else to say to that so I went back to staring at the sky. Hopefully Cato would get the idea and just leave me alone. He'd realise that I wasn't one for games soon enough and go off chasing some other girl. Because I knew that was what he was doing; he was looking to get laid, that's all these Careers were looking for.

When they became Victor they would become property of the Capitol and thrown into the bedrooms of beautiful, wealthy women. They had no use for District girls at this age, except to hone their skills.

Not that I cared, as long as I was in District 2 my legs were staying closed.

"So, Alfie... how are you finding it here?"

I could barely believe he was still talking to me. Had he not realised that I didn't want to converse with anyone at the moment? Especially not him.

"Let's see... I've been here two days and I've been harassed by this really annoying Career Tribute, my brother is acting like a tool and my sister has been threatened... how do you think I'm finding it?" I still couldn't seem to succeed with this 'being nice' crap.

Cato looked down at his feet for a moment, "Yeah, about that... I'm sorry. Pierce shouldn't have said that, but I promise that it wasn't really a threat. Mineek Thatcher wouldn't give up volunteering for anything, it's her last year and she really wants to compete."

I scowled at Cato, "I don't give two shits about Mineek Thatcher. I care about people trying to use my family in their twisted little game. You may be willing to throw your life away, Cato, but I am not and I don't appreciate people using my family against me in order to get me to do so."

He was silent for a few seconds before he nodded his head slowly, "You know, I was just trying to be neighbourly. I thought that since you were new you might like a friendly ear, someone outside of your family, but I see that I was wrong. Maybe I'll see you around, Alfie from District 4."


	4. Not Working

I didn't sleep well that night. My dreams were plagued by Pierce's threat against Maya.

I dreamt of it coming to fruition. Maya tripping over her feet as she stumbled to the stage and I can do nothing to stop her. She's too far away. I'm tied up and gagged. I have no voice. No one will listen to me. Pierce and his merry band of Tributes are holding me back, or they are pushing her forward.

Maya in the Games themselves was a situation of interest as well, to my subconscience. The pre-Games interviews and presentations; sometimes she takes them well but more often than not she is a wreck. And everyone knows she's the weakest in the group. By the time she reaches the Arena they're all gunning for her. And there is nothing that I can do.

Between scenarios a single face flashes before me. Cato. It morphs between different emotions. Friendliness. Compassion. Annoyance. Anger. And, bizarrely enough, sorrow.

I didn't want to admit it but I knew that my tirade today would bite me in the arse tomorrow. An apology wasn't a question, it was a necessity. If I didn't try to make up for it then I may well have just resigned my sister to the Capitol's favourite barbaric form of entertainment. I would be lucky if Cato hadn't already told Pierce that I was a bitch and started planning some way of scaring me into line.

Maybe I was over reacting. Cato had seemed nice enough. I'd also got the feeling that his apology for Pierce's threat had been somewhat genuine. There was no guarantee that Cato would run straight to Pierce. Hopefully Cato had as big of an ego as Aloki, if he did then there was no way that he would tell anyone. God forbid anyone would be so rude to the handsome young Career Tribute.

I walked Maya to her first class and told her I would meet her there for lunch. Pierce's threat had scared her, to the point where she had nightmares too. She was still worried that the kids in her class would take it out on her somehow and it hurt me to see her so stressed. All I wanted was to protect her and her fear only brought home how risky my ill temper had been last night.

"Don't worry about anything; I'll just be next door." I said with my hands rested on her shoulders.

She nodded and gave me a feeble smile. I gripped her shoulders and turned her around, pushing her gently into the class. The Academy was broken into two buildings, one for the Career Tributes and one for everyone else. Maya was alone on this side of the Academy during her classes and it did worry me a little but her long term protection was more important than small temporary concerns.

Aloki called through the door as she entered the room, "If anyone gives you shit then you know where to send them."

I slapped Aloki's shoulder, "We are trying to get along with these people. Starting fights will help no one."

As we entered the Combat Hall I saw him in the corner. He was sitting at a table with a large book open in front of him and a few sheets of paper beside him. He was drumming a pen on the table in a mismatched rhythm as he scanned the pages of the book. It was barely eight-thirty in the morning and he was already studying. Then again, he may just be trying to get people to leave him alone. Well, it wasn't going to work this morning.

"I'll be back in a few minutes." I mumbled to Aloki. Aloki shrugged and nodded but didn't seem to be paying attention to me as he moved in the opposite direction.

Apologies are not easy for me. They takes a certain amount of humility that I just don't like showing to people that I don't know. But I didn't have a choice. Thankfully, there were only a half dozen students in the Combat Hall and Cato was sitting by himself. Now was probably the best time to talk to him because if it went wrong then there were only a few eyes to witness it. He noticed me before I was halfway to him and he watched me stoically as I approached.

"I'm sorry." I said with a sigh. He didn't say anything so, after a few seconds, I continued, "I've just been really stressed and... I know that there is no excuse. I was a bitch and you were just trying to be nice."

Cato considered me for a few moments before he spoke, "It's cool. I understand it's probably been hard for you lately. And I definitely know what it's like having a tool for a younger brother." I smiled at him, unsure of what to do next. He noticed my discomfit and gave a short, friendly laugh, "How good are you with berries and fruits?"

"I'm pretty sure I could feed myself if I had to. Why?" It sounded like a stupid question to me the second that I said it. _Why?_ Was there any doubt in my mind why he had asked? He was trying to keep the conversation going, seeing how I was failing miserably at it. Although, it did genuinely surprise me. He was a Career Tribute, if he ended up in the Arena then he wouldn't need to worry about berries, he'd have control of the Cornucopia.

Cato seemed confused by my question, "Well, to be honest, I'm really not very good at identifying them. I'd probably poison myself within the first day if I was selected this year."

I laughed, "Like you'd need to know that."

This was definitely not the thing to say. Cato's face was suddenly hard and aggressive as he glared up at me from his book. It was such a hostile expression that you would have thought I'd just threatened to burn down his house. I was most surprised by the fact that when he was angry, as he was now, he looked like a different person. He looked like the malicious Career that you would see on the television during the Games.

"What? Because I'm a Career, I'm not allowed to be intelligent. Or don't you think that I'm smart enough to know the difference between Nightlock and Liverberry." he snarled and he sounded truly menacing.

I shook my head, "It's not a matter of what you can be. It's what you need to be. You get into the Arena, you secure the Cornucopia and then you don't need to know the difference."

"You can't trust the Capitol. What if they decide not to include food at the Cornucopia when I go in there? I'll need to know then."

"You're strong and handsome; you'll have more sponsors than your mentor will know what to do with. You don't need to be smart."

Cato looked back down at the book, "You may be confident enough to think that 'strong and handsome' will get me through but I'm not. And contrary to what you believe, I'm not suicidal. So, you can either help me by going over this shit with me or by taking care of your brother." He pointed over my shoulder.

Aloki was standing in the farthest corner from Cato and myself, in front of two very angry looking male Careers and a girl who looked strangely self-conscious. Even though his back was to me, I could tell that he was not happy. His tense shoulders, shaking hands and very deliberate breaths all betrayed his emotion. I'd only seen him like that once before and that time had ended up with him in the custody of the Peacekeepers for a full day.

"Fucking great." I sigh but stop before moving away, "It doesn't matter if you can tell the difference between Nightlock and Liverberry, they're both poisonous."

I darted across the room, desperate to get there before he found himself back under Peacekeeper supervision. It was certainly not a good way to start his second day at the Academy but I couldn't say I was all that surprised. I got there just in time to grab his clench fist before he threw it at the taller of the two guys.

"What do you think you're doing?" I bellowed at him, knowing full well that the whole room would now be looking at us. Thankfully, only a few more students had arrived since we walked in.

Aloki looked so aggravated that he would have tried fighting me to release some of the pent up energy, "I was minding my own business when these dicks showed up."

One of the guys scoffed, "Trying to weasel your way into my girlfriend's pants is far from minding your own business."

I found it kind of sad that this turn of events didn't surprise me. Aloki was a fifteen year old boy, his life currently revolves around girls, particularly pretty little things like we were standing in front of now.

Although I was annoyed with him, I didn't entirely blame him; she was surprisingly stunning, with long glossy black hair, small waist and perky breasts. She was the picture of health and virility. It was what happened when not only you but your parents, are not overworked and live in relative luxury. Despite her good looks I could see the hardness of her stare; her embarrassment was as faked as I had ever seen.

This was what I expected from District 2. Conniving. Scheming. Manipulative. And unnervingly calm about such behaviours. She couldn't care less if those two meatheads beat the shit out of Aloki, she would probably get some sort of psychopathic rush from seeing it. But I did expect her acting to be better than that.

"I think the biggest issue here is that you think Aloki could succeed." I growled as Aloki lowered his fist.

The girl's boyfriend stepped forward, clearly trying to threaten me with his mere presence. It wasn't going to work. I had spent my childhood playing on the docks around non-family-oriented sailors and deckhands who were twice as muscular as this dickhead. He was nothing frightening to me.

"I never said he would succeed." he said through clenched teeth.

I huffed a laugh, "You wouldn't be so angry if you didn't think he could."

The second boy stepped forward now, neither of them could have been more than sixteen but they seemed to have the confidence of someone much older, "Are you calling my sister easy?"

"If the shoe fits." I snarled, unable to contain my annoyance at their confidence.

I did not see the fist before it collided with my nose and I stumbled backwards in shock. No one had looked like they were preparing to throw a punch and yet it hit me hard enough to almost knock me off my feet. Blood was dripping past my mouth before my hand reached my nose. I could barely breathe as I tried to straighten up and see past the welling tears. All I could think about was my inability to breathe through the streaming blood and the metallic taste in my mouth.

In front of me, I could hear the sounds of a scuffle. Something hit me in the shin and I lashed out at it. A moment later I could see and I didn't like the scene before me. Aloki was laying into the boyfriend while the brother was trying to assist his flailing comrade. I had kicked the brother and he was now trying to decide whether to face off with me or continue helping his friend. The girl was standing beside the scene, squealing and squeaking like a Capitol resident who was faced with a mouse.

I clenched the fist not cupping my nose and swung it at the brother, clipping his chin and causing him to step backwards. His feet got tangled in those of Aloki and the boyfriend and he fell over the fighting boys, into the legs of the girl. Who wasn't quite fast enough and, rather slowly, toppled over. She slapped the boy who claimed to be her brother as someone flew in from the left and started hauling Aloki off of the other boy.

I wasn't sure if he was helping Aloki or the boyfriend and I would have stopped him but my mouth was half full of blood, and I was too preoccupied with not suffocating. I spat the mouthful of blood out and tilted my head back. My nose hurt so bad that I couldn't touch it, but at least gravity had something to fight against when I stood like this.

"Are you okay?" Aloki grunted as he came up and loomed over me. There was bright red flesh around his face where he had copped a blow and his lip was split and bleeding. I felt absolutely no remorse for his pain, seeing as it was his wandering eyes that got us into this dilemma in the first place.

"Give me a minute." I choked. Well, I tried to choke; even for choking my words were fractured and came out wrong.

A hand pressed between my shoulder blades and directed me out of the Hall. I didn't protest because I was quite content to leave the Hall. My blood was dripping down my front and I knew that it was all over the floor, but I couldn't care less. All I wanted was for my nose to stop bleeding, and if that meant dribbling it all over the hall then that was what I was going to do.

"Sit down here and keep your head back." someone said as a scrunched up rag was lifted up above my face.

I took the rag as I sat down and placed it gingerly over my mouth to stem the flow of blood without touching my very sensitive nose. As I lowered myself to the ground, I saw who it was that had assisted me out of the hall. It surprised me to see him as I thought that he was angry at me.

Cato glanced at Aloki and shook his head before turning away from me altogether.

"Aloki Neilsson!" I recognised that as the Survival Tactics teacher and a few seconds later she comes into view, "You are to report to the Headmaster, now! How are you Alfie?"

"Okay." I mumbled through the rag.

The teacher pulled the rag away slowly and tisked over the sight before her, "It doesn't look broken. Do you think you need to see the nurse?" I shook my head, "Okay. Cato, can you keep an eye on her until she stops bleeding? Make sure she doesn't pass out."

"Certainly." Cato nodded and watched the teacher walk back to the class. When the teacher was gone and we were on our own, Cato sat down next to me with his legs out straight and his back against the wall. We were silent for a few moments before Cato laughed, "You owe me a new shirt."

In the corner of my eye I could see Cato's torso and realised that he was wearing a singlet. I hadn't paid any attention to what he was wearing earlier but I was sure that it hadn't been a singlet. The cloth in my hands was not a rag, it was Cato's shirt. I was never going to be able to be a bitch to this guy, ever again.

I groan in my annoyance.


	5. Sacrifice

"I shouldn't have jumped down your throat before. You were right about Nightlock and Liverberry." Cato smiled at me.

I watched him from the corner of my eye; there wasn't much I could do. I was sick of trying to talk because my words all sounded wrong and I couldn't nod my head because the movement hurt my nose. So I sat there, without moving, and watched Cato.

He was surprisingly handsome. It was annoying because he seemed to be genuinely nice and unlike the girl that Aloki had been hitting on, his smile looked pleasant and friendly. Why he was willing to forgive my horrible behaviour last night I had no idea. If what I had seen of him was anything to go by he was a legitimately good guy and he didn't need shit from some stranger.

He leant towards me, "Have you stopped bleeding?"

"No." I was sick of my words not sounding how they should. If Cato was as experienced a Career as he seemed to be, he would know blood-nose-speech so I didn't need to worry, but I still didn't like it.

Footsteps sounded from inside the Hall and Pierce loomed into view. He was smiling from ear to ear and his eyes twinkled in delight. It reminded me of the look that Aloki had worn on his ninth birthday when mum and dad got him a new quiver. It might have been a smile of mirth but it was not a pleasant one. I don't think anything could make Pierce's face look friendly or inviting.

He looked down at me and his smile got brighter, "I just heard what happened. Needless to say, we'd really like for you and your brother to join our Training Group."

I wasn't sure what was happening. Pierce hated us yesterday but today he was requesting that we team up with him. This was one major mood swing and it was really confusing me.

Cato seemed to notice my confusion, "That was Niko, Locke and Inna. Niko was the one who punched you. Long story short, we don't like them."

"You don't really have a choice. We have two crews here, mine and Raze's. Niko is part of Raze's crew and they're not going to accept you now." Pierce said proudly.

I didn't want to accept his 'offer' but I couldn't see another option. Having a group to help defend me would also help to protect Maya. She was the important one here. All I had to do was tolerate these fools until the last Games that she was eligible for, just to be on the safe side. After that they could all go screw themselves, but until then it was best to remain in their favour.

"Okay."

"Awesome. Anyway, I came to tell you two that we have access to the Training Yard next Friday so make sure you're ready. We don't want to waste this chance; it may be the last we get before the Reaping." Pierce nodded his head as a farewell and disappeared back into the Hall.

We sat in silence for a while until my curiosity got the better of me, "What's the Training Yard?" I asked and it came out sounding better than I expected.

"Oh, it's this large piece of land just south of here. It's set up kind of like an Arena and you get thrown in there to see how long you can last. It's really good, helps you get used to being disconnected from everyone."

I nodded slowly and we fell back into relative silence.

We had nothing like that in District 4. It was no wonder that District 2 Careers were so good, they truly had the best of everything. Or second best. If District 2 had a Training Yard than I couldn't fathom the advantages that District 1 must have. Actually, I didn't even want to think about thinking about it.

Cato did most of the talking and I found out more about him then I ever thought I'd need to know. He has two younger brothers and is really close with his cousins, of which he has seven. His father works as a stonemason and his mother is a seamstress. Cato has taken out a Tessera every year since he was twelve for his family and currently had thirty-six entries in the draw for the Games. They were not a rich family and Cato dreamt of winning the Games so that he could provide for them.

It looked like my perception of District 2 Careers as spoilt brats was not an accurate one. They were richer than a lot of other districts but were by no means well off. Most families were able to scrap by with relative ease but the Careers often went to the Games hoping to make life easier for their family. The desperation to see their family living easy makes them hard, especially when they enter the Games.

This wasn't all families. Some, like Niko's and Locke's, were very well off. Niko's father had won the Games years ago and Locke's family were all Peacekeepers. They were living a life of luxury that was generally reserved for those in District 1. It wasn't perfect but it was a hell of a lot better than most. Rumour had it that they had consistent hot water, around the clock electricity and numerous telephones lines for a single house.

That was luxury compared to what the rest of us had. This morning I had a cold shower and we only had electricity in late evening and early morning, except when the Games were on. My family didn't have a telephone, although Cato's did.

Cato went on to tell me about other members of their crew, now my crew. Most of who were in the same position as Cato and I. Well off in comparison to other districts but poor in comparison to much of District 2. Most people in District 2 worked hard jobs with long hours so despite having wealth, they didn't get time to enjoy it.

The difference between Pierce's crew and Raze's crew was socio economic. Basically, Pierce's crew were lower class, Raze's crew were upper class.

The crews were interesting. District 2 used the crews to resolve volunteering disputes. This year was Raze's crew's year, meaning that they decided who volunteered. Next year would be Pierce's. According to Cato, Pierce didn't really like this because it meant he couldn't volunteer and this year was his last chance. Unless he was to strike a deal with Raze, he was socially required to keep his hand down and mouth shut during the Reaping.

This worried me because I was the only seventeen year old female in Pierce's crew, meaning that next year I would be expected to volunteer. I was sure that there would be someone else who was more than willing to take the spot but it was generally considered the duty of the oldest Tribute to volunteer. Hopefully between now and then I would find some way out of it but for now I would let everyone assume I was okay with this.

My nose stopped bleeding well before we had reached the topic of District 2 social politics but we stayed outside talking instead of rejoining the class. The teacher came out at one point and I pretended that my nose was still bleeding. She suggested I should see the nurse but I swore that it was getting better and she let it go.

"Raze even has a pet dog." Cato said with enthusiasm, we were back talking about the difference between the rich and poor in District 2, "It's what they call a pure-bred. It came from the Capitol."

I didn't believe that, "Really? The Capitol generally doesn't export anything."

"Raze's uncle is a Peacekeeper in the Capitol, he got it for him."

"We had pure-breds in District 4. There were little dogs used on the boats for vermin control and general protection. And big dogs, and I mean really big dogs, used for fetching stuff that had fallen in the water." I explained and Cato looked riveted.

"I always wanted a dog but we can't afford one. Not to buy one and not to keep one. We have a cat but it doesn't seem to like anyone but my mum." Cato said with a slightly far off look in his eyes.

I smiled at him, "The dogs in District 4 weren't pets but the big ones were really gentle. I used to play with them as a kid."

Cato watched me carefully for a few moments. His eyes twinkling with the idea of owning a dog and his mouth pulled into a gentle smile. He looked incredibly handsome when he smiled, especially in comparison to when he was angry at me before. Happy, smiling Cato was a beautiful sight and I didn't ever want to see the angry Cato again.

"What was it like in District 4?" he asked as he continued to watch me.

It was weird trying to explain District 4 to Cato. Partly because I didn't know how to compare my district to his and partly because it felt like I was revealing this big secret that I wasn't sure whether I wanted him to know. I also became a little teary thinking of some of the things about District 4 that I missed the most, and I avoided the topic of my father because my grief for him was still too raw.

We continued talking about District 4 until the class ended. Well, I talked and Cato asked questions. It was strangely cathartic to talk to someone about my home and have them actually listen to me. I liked it because it made me feel like someone, in District 2, actually cared about somewhere other than District 2.

After the Survival Class we headed to the Combat Hall together.

Aloki did not turn up for this class and I had a strong feeling that we probably wouldn't see him again until late tonight, when the Peacekeepers brought him home and spoke to Eitan. Eitan is going to flip his shit when he finds out what happened today. It wasn't like I was particularly impressed with how things had worked out but Eitan was sure to be a thousand times more annoyed than me. He'd probably also be annoy at me.

Pierce was overly friendly during Combat Training. His presence in general was quite awkward, even when he was being nice. There was something about him that I one hundred percent just could not trust and it made me feel very anxious. If ever there was someone who I wouldn't be upset about seeing die in the Hunger Games, it was Pierce. As cruel as that sounds, there was just something off about him.

I could see him beating someone to death with his bare hands. I could see the violence in him, even when he was happy and enjoying himself. How the other members of his crew weren't scared shitless by it, I had no idea. The people of District 2 were very confusing to me.

During Combat Training, I organised with Cato for him to come over after school and I'd help him with his berry identification. Seeing how I was the reason he wasn't in the class, I felt it was up to me to make up for it. Also, I figured that if we had a guest around Eitan would be less likely to go ape shit. He, like me, didn't want anyone from District 4 getting the wrong impression about us, so he would hide his anger around a stranger.

Pierce explained more about the Training Yard. It was more like a trial Games then Cato had told me, including having Tributes 'die'. Fake weapons were given and if you were 'stabbed' or 'shot' or 'injured badly', you were escorted from the Arena. The weapons didn't actually harm you, they just left ink marks where they contacted the skin. Only twenty-four people could go in at any one time and since there were apparently twenty-nine students in Pierce's crew all the older tributes would be going in.

It occurred to me that I would have to explain all this to Aloki and Eitan later today. Aloki would be all for it, he loved anything that gave him a chance to show off. Eitan would not like it as much. He wanted to keep the family together as dad would have, meaning no involvement in the Hunger Games. Hopefully he would recognise that this was as much a requirement for our safety as not volunteering for the Games.

I would also have to tell Maya but something told me that she would trust my judgement.

Maya wasn't like Aloki, who from the day he started walking was off on his own. Maya was a shy, timid girl who easily trusted others and relied on them more than the rest of us ever had. She was innocent and sweet. She was the saving grace of our abnormal little family unit. Maya was going to be someone important.

For her, I would pretend that I liked Pierce. Pretend that I was part of his silly little crew. Next year, if I have to, I will go into the Games; for Maya, and Maya alone.


	6. Past, Present, Future

The atmosphere was so tense that you could cut it with a knife. Aloki sat on the couch opposite me and for the first time in a long time he looked nervous. I didn't blame him; Eitan was currently talking to two Peacekeepers on our front porch and when he came back in there was no knowing exactly how loud he was going to yell.

I saw tonight being a very long night.

Cato had come around after school to study and it was a little awkward. Maya was scared of him and didn't say a word to either of us on the way home; she then proceeded to hide away in our room while he was here. Eitan had been very suspicious of Cato when he arrived home but in a rare display of trust, in me, he had accepted it without much hesitance. When the Peacekeepers showed up with Aloki, Cato left.

Aloki has been uncharacteristically quiet since he returned home. He looked fine but I remembered the last time he had spent a day with Peacekeepers, whatever they did it made a real impression on him and he barely spoke a word for the next few days. I was sure the Peacekeepers here would have been even harder on him than those back home. These Peacekeepers didn't know us and Niko probably knew them all.

The front door slammed shut and both of us jumped. Eitan looked furious. Even angrier than dad had looked the last time Peacekeepers had brought Aloki home. If Aloki had thought his argument with me last night was bad then he hadn't heard anything yet. Unless Eitan decided to go down the passive-aggressive track, which he did on the odd occasion, in which case the tension and awkwardness was about to get even worse.

And neither of them knew about Pierce's invitation or the Training Yard. This was going to be a very long night.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" Eitan roared, there was no way that the next door neighbours couldn't hear this.

Aloki looked offended as he jumped to his feet, "He punched Alfie. What would you have done?"

"I wouldn't have attacked a Victor's son! I wouldn't have gotten myself put in custody. Do you realise how lucky you are?" Eitan was inches from Aloki and trying to stare him down.

Aloki was not going to back down anytime soon, "He fucking deserved it!"

"Deserved it?" Eitan's shoulders were paralysed by his fury despite his trembling head, "You dislocated his jaw and literally broke his eye socket."

That impressed me. I knew that it was wrong, that I should be condoning Aloki's attack and his stubborn desire to fight Eitan about it, but I was still impressed. I was angry that he was back talking Eitan, who was struggling just as much as the rest of us, but I couldn't help feeling proud of him. It must have been one hell of a punch to break Niko's eye socket, and he did do it to defend me, so I couldn't be as angry as I thought I should be.

"He punched Alfie!"

"And she's fucking fine now. No broken bone, just a little swelling. You on the other hand have a very serious mark against your name. This isn't District 4; the Peacekeepers here aren't going to cover this shit up." Eitan sounded so much like our father when he was angry that if I closed my eyes I could see him. Standing there, yelling at Aloki about the first time the Peacekeepers had him in custody.

It was shortly after our mother's death and Aloki dealt with it by rebelling. Dad was still struggling to manage the household and it was evident in his physique and clothing. He was thinner and greyer than he had ever looked before. He had worn the same clothes for three days straight and they were unwashed and creased.

That was how Eitan looked now. Except his clothes were soiled by working at the Quarry rather than days of use. It wasn't surprising. Eitan has been working his fingers to the bone for us and not once has he complained or asked us to help. We were all going through the same things but Eitan was also trying to keep our bellies full and a roof over our head.

Aloki's voice tore me out of my reverie, "I know that. You dragged us half way across Panem for some lame job at a stupid Quarry. I'm one hundred percent aware that we are not in Four anymore."

That was uncalled for. It had not been an easy decision to leave Four but it had been the right one. There was nothing in Four for us anymore. We were the only family we had and there was nothing more important than that. Eitan needed a job that paid enough to keep us alive and without our father's years of experience there was no such job in Four for Eitan.

"Don't take that tone with me. We moved here because this 'lame job' pays better than any job I could get in Four. I'm so sorry for trying to keep the family together."

"So am I." I was shocked by Aloki's words, as was Eitan, but that didn't stop him, "This place is fucking shit. I hate the people. I hate the town. I hate the landscape. You should have just fucking left me in Four. I would have made my own way."

"Aloki." I sighed, unable to contain my dismay at how rude he was being. No one was listening to me.

"You want to go back? Go back to what, huh? You have no house. You won't be able to afford to keep yourself clothed and warm, and stay in school. I understand that you don't want to be here. None of us do. But guess what? We're here. And there is no going back now. There is nothing for us in Four and I know that you know it."

It was Aloki's turn to look shocked, "Nothing?! We have friends in Four. Friends who would have helped us. Home was... is in Four. We were happy in Four. Our lives are in Four."

"No! Our lives _were_ in Four. Now they're here. In Two. So learn to deal with that because it's not going to change anytime soon." Eitan inched his shoulders forward so that he was looming even further over Aloki.

"Why should I? Alfie hasn't." To Aloki's credit, he still didn't back down; I would have.

This angered Eitan even more and I could see his cheeks reddening, "Alfie also hasn't broken a Career's face. Anyway, she is trying. Did you not notice the Career that Alfie was studying with this afternoon?"

Aloki laughed and it sounded disturbingly cruel, "That's one of the fuckers from that crew that threatened Maya. Alfie isn't accepting this change, she's trying to protect Maya."

Both boys turned to me.

"He did stop you from killing Niko." They looked confused, "The boy you attacked."

"Be honest, Alfie. You don't actually like that boy, you're just spending time with him to ensure Maya's safety." Aloki snapped as he stared holes into me.

"Cato's a nice guy. He said that Pierce didn't actually mean the threat to Maya, he just wanted to scare us a little."

Aloki did not like my response, "And you can accept that? You don't care that he used Maya's safety against you?"

"I never said that."

"Are you using the boy, Alfie?" Eitan pressed.

My brothers had never made me feel this awkward before. They both wanted an honest answer but they wanted different answers and I didn't want to disappoint either one. It also wasn't pleasant because I knew that the honest answer would not paint me in a good light. But I couldn't lie to them, regardless of how I would look at the end of this.

"Maya's protection is the most important thing here. I'd use everyone in this district to ensure her safety."

"Are you happy here?" Eitan's expression softened and it hurt to know that my answer was going to upset him.

"No, but I'll learn to deal."

"You still think moving was such a great idea?" Aloki snarled.

The tension got too much and I snapped, "Oh, shut the fuck up, Aloki. Of course I never wanted to leave Four, but what's the difference really? We're speaking the same language, following the same study path and being oppressed by the same government. The only difference is the environment, so get over yourself, Aloki."

"You really don't see the difference?" Aloki scoffed.

Eitan stepped away from Aloki and turned towards me. He looked so small despite his massive frame and previously aggressive stance. His determination was waning as Aloki's hard words started to cut at him and he realised that I wasn't going to be able to back him up.

The urge to slap Aloki was growing with every second that Eitan stood there, "I see Eitan trying to save our family; trying to keep us together so that the government doesn't get involved. I see the bigger picture which is clearly something that eludes you. Eitan left home too. He left his friends and Trill. Don't think that you're the only one that is hurting from this."

"So you think that you can come to like this place?" Aloki's confidence was fading and I was glad that Eitan wasn't the only one feeling the intensity of this situation.

"I think that I'm going to try."

"What? With Cato? Or Pierce? Do you seriously think that they are going to accept you?" The arrogance was back in Aloki's voice and with it came the urge to physically reprimand him for it.

"They already have. Thanks to your stupidity, our only option is to work with them."

"What are you talking about?" Eitan's brow furrowed and his face aged by a few years.

I explained everything to them, focusing on the politics of being a District 2 Career Tribute. Both of them were intrigued and for the first time, in a long time, they were quiet for the entirety of my explanation. It wasn't until I mentioned the Training Yard that either one looked like they were about to speak up. I was surprised they were able to hold off until I'd finished.

Aloki's eyes brightened the second that he realised what the Training Yard was. It was an opportunity for him to show all the District 2 Careers exactly what he was made of. He knew the survival skills that almost all of the Careers failed to grasp, and he wasn't weak either. I doubted he was humble enough to actually make it into the top six. I could see him getting a little too confident and getting himself fake killed.

Eitan, on the other hand, was mortified by the idea. I knew before I'd even brought it up, that he was going to have a problem with it. My only question was what argument he was going to use first. I could see how the idea of it was affecting him, even without him saying anything. There was a sorrow in his eyes that cut at me and it hurt to know that my position was not going to make that sorrow better.

"No." he said with surprising strength, "Neither of you will be going in there. You just won't."

"You can't stop us." Aloki mumbled.

Eitan glared at Aloki, "Oh, yes I can. I am your legal guardian, I'm sure that if I talk to the school then I could make sure that you're not going in there."

Aloki looked to me for assurance. Eitan's gaze followed soon after.

"You are not going in." Eitan boomed.

I shook my head, "I don't have a choice."

"Of course you fucking do!"

"No! I don't!" I yelled and pushed myself out of the chair, "If I turn them down, if I pull out of this crew, then Maya is at risk. I need to know that she will be protected after next year's Reaping. I can protect her for now but once I'm nineteen she is fair game. I'm not going to endanger Maya, not for anything."

"Not even to save yourself?" Eitan questioned.

"I don't need saving. I'm fully able to defend and protect myself. Maya is not."

Eitan gawked at me, "So what? You plan on sacrificing yourself for her? How do you think she will feel if you go into the Arena and never come back? What do you think it will do to her knowing that you died for her?"

"How could I possibly let her face the risk of the Games, knowing that I didn't do everything that I could to protect her?" I wasn't sure why he didn't comprehend the severity of this situation or my logic behind my coice.

"That's selfish. You would rather that she goes through that emotional anguish instead of you."

"I would rather she has a chance for a long life because of all of us, I know she can make something of herself. She can get out of this middle-class mess that we can't dream of getting away from."

Eitan took a deep breath and watched me closely, "Tell me, how many seventeen year olds are there in this 'crew'?"

So I had succeeded in convincing him of my reasons but he was still unsure. I knew that it was concern for me that was holding him back but I also knew that I was not important in this equation.

"Five or six." I muttered.

"How many are girls?" Eitan whispered and I knew that he was scared of what my answer would be.

"Just me."

"So next year..?" Eitan showed no fear in the face of that piece of information, only annoyance came through.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Alfie..." Aloki gasped.

I didn't need this from Aloki, of all people. So I yelled at him, "What?!"

"We've lost two parents already-" Eitan started.

"Don't." I whispered but he didn't listen to me and kept talking.

"-we can't lose you too."

"You won't have to because there is more than a year for me to get out of it. But I have to go through with this. We both do. I'm sorry." There was a year to find some way out of the Reaping next year and, while I wouldn't tell either of my brothers this, if push came to shove I would volunteer, if it guaranteed Maya's safety.

"You know what? Fuck it! You two can do whatever you want. I don't care anymore." Eitan turned on his heels and stormed from the room. I knew that this 'victory' would make the next few weeks a living hell for me.

Aloki didn't seem to think so. He was smiling from ear to ear and it was eerily reminiscent of Pierce's smile when he'd found out about the altercation with Niko. I wanted to slap him. He thought that he had won over Eitan. Aloki was horribly wrong.

* * *

_**Author's Note:**_

**I hate doing this but please review, even if it's just to demand the next chapter. If you have any queries or suggestions or if you don't like how it is progressing then please say so. Criticism is as welcomed as compliments, particularly constructive criticism.**


	7. The Best Laid Plans

This was it.

I was waiting in the Gatehouse of the Training Yard with Cato. We'd been spending a lot of time together recently. He was easy to talk to and unlike everyone else he didn't try to pressure me into telling them the 'secrets' of District Four's Careers Program. He also sucked at identifying berries and fruits, which gave us something to study when we didn't have training with the crew. I was lucky that Cato was willing to forgive my bitchiness because otherwise I would be even more jaded, and I'd be alone.

"This place is crazy high tech." I said as I continued scanning the multitude of television screens that relayed live footage of the Training Yard. It was no wonder that District Two tributes did as well as they did.

Cato laughed, "Rumour has it that District One has a proper Cornucopia and starting bases."

I didn't really care about District One. For the last two weeks I had been trying to figure out some way to avoid having to volunteer next year. It was hard because a big part of me didn't feel right about it. I was a District Four Tribute and I'd been taught that volunteering wasn't something you ran away from. The prevalence of trained Tributes didn't seem to abate my desire to protect those younger than me and I felt nauseous about trying to get out of it.

I took a deep breath and let my main concern from the last couple of weeks come to the surface, "How does it work here? The actual Reaping that is."

"Well, this year Raze's crew is up for volunteering, they'll decide who is going to volunteer. Next year we will have a meeting before the Reaping and decide as a team."

"What are my chances of having to volunteer?"

"'Having'? Shouldn't you be interested in 'getting to volunteer'?" Cato was smarter than most people gave him credit for.

"My family has already lost both parents. I don't think Maya would survive me dying as well." I mumble. I was unable to look at him so I had no idea if he believed my excuse.

"Would you volunteer to save her?"

"Of course." I was annoyed that he even felt the need to ask.

"Well then... don't mention it in there." he pointed to the door that led to the Training Yard, "If something like that got out then there is no knowing how it would affect a Reaping."

I wanted to ask what he thought would happen but at that moment the door into the Gatehouse swung open and Pierce waltzed in, followed by the rest of the crew members due to compete in these trial games. He smiled at us and proceeded to wink at Cato, which made me very suspicious.

"Don't go there." Cato sighed loud enough for Pierce to hear.

Pierce beamed at me, "Come on, how long are you going to try to hide it? We all know what you're actually doing when you say that you're 'studying'."

"Pretending Cato's stupidity is acceptable?" I suggest and the crew laughed.

"Hey!" Cato gasped in mock shock.

Pierce walked past us to the cabinet by the door and opened the second drawer. The rest of the crew followed but I waited where I was sitting. I didn't see the point in standing around at the back of the group; I wouldn't be able to see anything anyway. Cato sat with me still, watching me out of the corner of his eye.

"What?"

Cato scanned the crew before whispering, "I was thinking... when we get in there, we should team up."

"Okay." I whispered back, "Just don't stab me in the back."

Cato smiled at me and I couldn't help but smile back, "I wouldn't dream of it."

Movement caught my eye and I looked away from the handsome Career beside me. A small girl with short black hair and hard brown eyes stepped out of the mass of Careers. Over the last two weeks I had come to learn that she was one of the most bitter people I had ever met. She was also one of the most talented Careers in general. I didn't ever want to get on the wrong side of this girl and I got a feeling that by the time she volunteered she would be the most formidable female Tribute to ever leave District Two.

"Here." she barked and threw two metal bands at us before turning away and walking back into the fray.

"What's this?" I asked as I inspected the band. It looked like a thick, flat bracelet with a thin electronic display.

Cato laughed to himself as he wrapped his band around his wrist, "They're health bands. When we get in there they will be activated and if you get injured then they'll show it. When you have no health then you're considered 'dead'."

"Got to be the best way to die." I muttered as I fastened the band in a similar fashion to Cato.

We were standing around the makeshift Cornucopia, a table piled with fake weapons and survival tools. Everyone was approximately the same distance from the packed table and we were waiting for the cue to start. I was curious for how this would work because the real games had tributes who were more likely to run away from the Cornucopia than towards it, but here there were just Careers; every one of them would be itching to get at those weapons.

I figured I would run. Mainly because I couldn't be bothered risking my 'life' for a couple of fake weapons. I could easily fashion a basic trap and then steal the weapons of whoever fell in it first. My specialty was axes but I could use just about anything, at least until I got myself some daggers. For reasons that I couldn't explain, I didn't want them knowing that I was good with axes. Not even Cato knew that I was proficient with an axe.

A buzzer sounded and I sprinted for the lake that was behind me. The sound of almost two dozen tributes storming towards the table of goods was like distant thunder behind me. A deafening bang, like someone had hit a giant gong, sounded just as I reached the lake's edge. I didn't wait to check behind me, I guessed the gong was to emulate the canon used in the real games; instead I just dove into the water.

Part of me was relieved to feel the cool water against my skin. I hadn't swum since a couple of days before we left Four and I hadn't realised how much I missed it until I was back under the surface. For the sake of swimming I let myself forget that I was pretending to be running for my life. I was half way across the lake when I resurfaced and still I didn't look back.

It wasn't until I was wading out of the water that I let myself turn around. On the far side of the table there was a congregation of tributes slowly moving back the way we had arrived. They were 'dead'. My decision to move away from the improvised Cornucopia was clearly the right one, as there were more Careers leaving the Training Yard then there were staying.

Even from more than a hundred metres away, I could see a few of the Careers that were still left. Of course, Pierce was one and he was picking through the pile of weapons while the others waited around him. It was exactly as I had expected, Pierce had a small group of Careers that he was working with.

What I hadn't expected was that Cato would be among them. I wondered what he was doing considering his 'let's team up' crap back at the Gatehouse. It didn't entirely surprise me, he had been a friend of Pierce's for a hell of a lot longer than he had been a friend of mine. It was only natural that he would team up with Pierce over me.

I turned to the forest and started walking. Eventually someone would come out looking for me and anyone else who thought the Cornucopia was a bad idea. There had to be at least one other. Right?

It was coming on sunset and the sky was dark with approaching storm clouds. I had already weaved four sides of a cube and was sitting on one of the sides, with the other three protecting me from the wind. I'd set up my little cube amongst the bank of reeds that I had used to weave it in the hopes of concealing my location until the morning.

After that I wasn't sure what I would do. The usual plan in a real Hunger Game would mean that I already had weapons but currently I had nothing. It was made ever so slightly more difficult by the fact that, since this was a fake Hunger Games, any crude weapons that I could make in the real Games were too dangerous to make here. I couldn't bludgeon anyone with a rock, or sharpen a stick to use to puncture an artery or two, or drown someone in the lake; all things that would be easily done in the Games but were certainly frowned upon in the Training Yard.

"What makes you think she'd be around here?" I heard a girl's voice break through the howl of the strengthening wind.

Someone groaned, "Because she's from District Four. She'll have built shelter and be hiding from the rain. If she made said shelter out of reeds then she will most likely be hiding amongst the reeds."

It took me a second to realise who it was and I was surprised by how well Cato knew me. Cato was smarter than even I gave him credit for and that annoyed me a little. I wasn't sure whether I could trust him because I'd seen him at the table with Pierce, so I decided to listen in on them for a little longer. With the fading light and my shelter in the reeds, it was unlikely they'd be able to locate me.

"I can't believe we're doing this." the girl grumbled and I could barely catch the exact words.

There was a slight pause before Cato answered, "You can go back if you want. It'd be safer for you if you did because Pierce is going to be pissed when he sees that we're gone."

"He probably already knows, which means my returning will definitely get me killed." whoever she was she seemed upset about leaving Pierce, probably she knew that leaving was going to cost her whatever chance of winning she had, "What is the deal with you two anyway?"

"There's no deal. We're just friends." I still couldn't see them but their voices were getting closer. Well, they had been, now they had paused just out of sight.

"Just friends?" she wasn't convinced.

"Yes, just friends. Alfie is awesome but there's nothing between us." I don't know whether it was what he said or how he said it but when I heard Cato say it, it annoyed me. There was an awkward pause before Cato spoke again, "It's not going to happen."

Cato strode into view, followed closely by the girl as she whined at him, "Why?" Even in the fading light of day I could see that it was Clove, the bitter looking girl who'd given me and Cato our health bands.

"Because... it's just not." Cato growled as he turned towards Clove, and I could sense his anger.

She stared at him for a few moments, "Why do you deny it? It's so obvious that you two are fucking each other."

I'd had enough, so I rolled onto my knees and stepped towards them, "No, we most certainly are not!"

Cato smiled at me and held his hand out to the side, "Give me the knives, Clove."

Clove stared at Cato in disbelief, "What?!"

"Alfie's a better shot than you so she should have the knives." Cato didn't look at Clove as he spoke, he just stared at me. I noticed him reach for something on his hip as he waited for Clove to answer him.

"No. I ran into the Cornucopia when she ran away. I deserve these-" Cato spun on Clove and looked to punch her awkwardly in the stomach but he hadn't punched her. He'd stabbed her; with the broadsword he'd acquired at the Cornucopia. The gong sounded and Clove looked pissed, "You jerk! I hope it's worth it, since you just eliminated one of your best allies."

"I have a better one." Cato laughed.

Clove pulled open her jacket and started removing the half dozen blades from the in-built sheaths in the jacket. She snatched the last couple from their holders with such careless regard that she slashed through the fabric. But Clove had no intention of handing the blades to Cato, instead she seemed to throw them beside me. Only she threw too hard and I heard them land in the lake.

"Clove! Really, what was the point? Alfie's from Four, she's been pearl diving for years. Getting those knives will be as easy as pie." Cato laughed as he watched Clove walk away. She was well out of hearing range before Cato moved towards me, "I knew you'd be here."

I shook my head and turned back to my shelter, "You still wouldn't have found me if I hadn't stood up, though." I sat down to one side, leaving enough room for Cato to sit beside me. Something told me that this could be a mistake but I didn't really care. Maybe if they thought I was naive then they would recommend sending someone else into the Games next year.

"So you made this in one afternoon?" Cato asked as he sat down, "That's impressive."

I bit my lip, "Not really, not for a District Four tribute. What's impressive is that you could just use Clove like that. And then turn on her."

"I told her she could go back."

"She was right about Pierce likely not letting her back. How can I be sure that you're not going to kill me when my backs turned?"

"Oh, because I've given a lot of thought to how I'm going to kill you. And you'll be facing me when I defeat you." Cato said with a sly smile.

I turned towards him, "Really?! And how are you planning on defeating me?"

"Now why would I tell you that?" he cocked an eyebrow at me.

I shrugged my shoulder and splayed my hands, "What harm can it do? It's not like this is really life and death. Anyway, tit for tat; you tell me your plan, I'll tell you mine."

Cato chuckled to himself, "All in due time."

A voice boomed through the 'Arena', sufficiently silencing my attempt at a reply, "End of day one; eighteen dead."

"Huh..." Cato sighed.

"What?"

He smiled at me and pulled me into his side. It was an awkward hug but there was still an element of comfort in it, "When Clove and I left there were seven tributes at the Cornucopia, meaning that at least three people have fake died. And that's assuming that there were no others that copied you in ditching without weapons."

"All that says to me is that there are only five more tributes to fake kill." I smiled as I closed my eyes, "You are on the first watch. If you fake kill me in my sleep then I will make your real life hell for at least a month."

It was almost noon and Cato was bitching about not knowing how many people Pierce had left. When we had woken up this morning and looked across the lake at the empty table, that had been the very lame Cornucopia, we were surprised to find it completely deserted.

I didn't see this as a real problem, as long as we kept an eye out for signs of traps or other tributes. For some reason I just didn't seem to have the same now or never impulse that Cato did. I guessed that it was simply the knowledge that even if I died, I couldn't lose as I could in the real Games.

We were searching for food. Well, I was searching for food, Cato seemed determined to poison us. Although the worst thing we'd come across would only give us really bad diarrhoea, I did not like the idea of that happening, ever.

"When we get out of here we are going to have to step up the berry and fruit studies." Cato remarked as he emptied his hands of Geocherries, which would cripple us with temporary blindness if we ate even one.

"I don't know, I think maybe studying that is a waste of time." I grumbled as I started picking blackberries.

Cato knelt down beside me, "Why?"

I sighed, "What have you learnt in the last two weeks?" Cato was silent, "Exactly."

My hands were full berries and when I tried to pick another one I found myself losing more than I was gaining. So I decided to give up on picking more and stood up. Cato followed suit and it annoyed me because he hadn't picked a single berry. I turned to him, ready to yell at him for doing nothing but I didn't get the chance to say anything.

Cato's hands cupped my cheeks and his lips pressed firmly against mine. I was torn; part of me wanted to pull away but another part was enjoying the feel of his kiss. The realisation that this was almost certainly being filmed made my mind up for me and I tried to step away. Cato's hold on my face unyielding but gentle, and he stepped forward to keep us close together. Realising that he wasn't going to give up, I decided that if I gave in then it might end sooner. Or at least, he might let his guard down.

Which he did and I was able to put some distance between us. I was confused about what exactly he had done that for. He hadn't given me any sign that he had those sorts of feelings for me and I wasn't sure whether I liked the idea that he felt that way.

In my confusion, I took a second step back and felt something hard press against my back, just behind my kidney. My health band vibrated slightly as an arm snaked around my shoulders and the object pressed harder into my flesh. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening.

"Sorry." Cato whispered with an awkward grimace just as the gong sounded.


	8. Annoyed

I wasn't as angry at Cato as I thought I should be. It was entirely understandable that he would team up with Pierce and literally stab me in the back. Actually, Cato had metaphorically stabbed me in the back, but he had literally organised it. But still I felt that I should be angrier than I was.

My mediocre anger was heightened when I entered the Gatehouse and found half a dozen crew members standing around watching the screens that now showed Cato and Pierce conspiring where I had just been 'killed'. It was awkward walking into the Gatehouse, as every head in the room turned to me and they let out a loud collective croon, and a couple of wolf whistles. Aloki was amongst them and he was laughing like a maniac.

He had been banned from participating because of his indiscretion. He'd promised to watch every second of my time in there so that he could critique my efforts. I could tell by the look on his face that I would not be hearing the end of this any time soon.

"How many are left?" I asked, trying to ignore the looks everyone was giving me.

Aloki smiled broadly, "Five, including lover boy."

"Oh, shut up. I didn't ask for that." I growled as I started towards the door.

"But you did kiss him back." someone laughed but I ignored them.

I needed to figure out some way of making Cato's life hell for the next month, but I couldn't do that here. Not with the stares and the inappropriate comments that I knew would be coming. The punishment would have to be big because these looks were uncomfortable. I made straight for the door so that I could get some time to myself.

Time to myself so that I could think about Cato and my retribution.

It was Sunday morning and I had decided to go for a run before the entire town was up and about. The Training Game was still going and from Aloki's last report it was down to three Careers. Pierce, of course; Howie, a sixteen year old that could easily pass for twenty; and Cato. I was glad he was still in it because otherwise his 'betrayal' was all for nothing.

When I rounded the last corner to get back on my street, I saw someone standing at the front door of our house. They mustn't have been there long because the front door was still closed and something about their stance told me they were still waiting. I slowed to a speedy walk and watched the visitor carefully.

The front door opened and I could tell by the size of the shadow that it was Eitan who answered it. As I got closer I heard Eitan's tone, although I couldn't hear his words, but the tone was enough to tell me that he was not happy with whoever it was. That meant there were a few people it could be. Cato was one option and Pierce was another, Eitan was angry with how I was eliminated from the Training Yard. But those were unlikely as they were still in the Training Yard. It could be Jaylyn, a cook at the Quarry kitchen that Eitan had a little thing for, but they looked too tall for the petite blonde my brother couldn't stop thinking about. More likely it was Jaylyn's brother, who was more than aware of Eitan's affections towards his sister.

Once I was within hearing range it didn't take long for me to figure out who it was.

"She's not here." Eitan growled.

The visitor seemed undeterred, "Do you know where she is?"

Eitan shook his head, "Now, why would I tell you that? You stabbed her in the back."

"Technically, I didn't. I just kissed her."

Eitan groaned loudly as he stepped back into the house. As he moved he saw me and paused in his movement. His sudden hesitation was not lost to Cato, who spun around to face me.

"Alfie! Can we talk? In private?" Cato looked down at me as I reached the bottom of the steps.

I nodded, "As long as we can sit down somewhere; I've been running for almost an hour."

Cato smiled and bounced down the steps, "I know just the place."

We walked in silence to the south. It took us a minute to reach the outskirts of our little town, at which point we veered off the dirt road that led to the Quarry. The grass was wet with dew from the cold night and it was long enough to brush against my ankles, slowly soaking my socks with icy water. Cato was leading me towards the open forest that encircled the town and Quarry, the Training Yard was to the North-East but the area looked exactly the same.

I didn't know this area so I had to put my trust entirely in Cato. That didn't seem like a good idea; seeing how the last time I trusted him, he had conspired to fake kill me. I knew it was just a game but there was part of me that was more than a little annoyed at him about it. If he hadn't been at my door before I would not have sought him out. Yes, I was bitter.

Despite the distance between the trees, the forest was gloomy in the dim morning light. At least the grass around here was short and sparse, so it didn't continue to drench my wool socks. The leaves that carpeted the forest floor were damp and silent under our feet. The walk was slightly awkward because of all the silence, the leaves below us and the words between us.

Eventually, Cato stopped. It was so sudden that I almost walked into him. I hit him in the shoulder, annoyed by his abrupt stop, but it didn't faze him. He just stood there, staring at something a few feet in front of him. By the look on his face this was where we were supposed to be, because he was happy about the sight before him.

I followed his gaze and realised that he had every reason to be happy. God knows that the sight made me happy. It was a sight that I honestly didn't expect to see around here. It wasn't great but after so long thinking that such a sight was gone to me forever, it was glorious. I could feel the goofy smile spread across my face and I didn't care how stupid it looked.

In front of us was a lake, large and rippling, equipped with its own small waterfall and a network of streams that filtered away from it, connecting into a small river that flowed west. In the muted light the water looked black with shimmering dashes of bronze and gold. It was all golden to me, the thought of being in the water was almost too appealing. If it weren't for the swims I'd had in the Training Yard then I would have just jumped straight in.

"It's my apology." Cato whispered.

I huffed a laugh, "Best apology ever."

"I am genuinely sorry. I really regret it... well, I regret the outcome but not my actions."

I turned back to Cato, "So what happened? Did you win?"

It was Cato's turn to laugh, "Hell no. I tried, made it down to the final three. But Pierce stabbed me in the back. Actually, he stabbed me in the chest but I sure as hell was not expecting it."

"So you betrayed me to come in third?"

Cato shrugged, "I hope that you aren't going to read anything into it, the betrayal that is. It's just a game, you know?"

"I know. I kind of expected it. You've known Pierce for longer so it's logical that you'd team with him. Who came up with the plan anyway?" I asked as I turned back to the lake.

Cato stepped up beside me, "Both of us. Pierce came up with using me to distract you; I came up with the rest."

"Wasn't the whole plan that I was distracted so Pierce could kill me?"

"He didn't know how I was going to do it." Cato was watching me intently, "Just for curiosity's sake, would you object if I tried that again?"

I tore my eyes from the lake to watch Cato's reaction to my response, "Last time you had me fake killed. Do you really think I'd fall for it again?"

"I didn't actually mean in there." Cato turned to face me straight on and I could see a slight meekness to his usual confident smile.

That threw me. Even more than the kiss had thrown me. When he'd kissed me, I'd figured it was not entirely because he wanted to. And I was right. He'd kissed me to get the upper hand in the game. Now he was suggesting that he wanted to kiss me again and there didn't seem to be any additional motive to that desire.

"What makes you think I'd want that?"

"Well," Cato hesitated, he was obviously concerned about his reasoning, "you called me handsome."

I furrowed my brow in concentration and tried to think of when it was that I called him handsome. He was. He was very handsome. But I don't remember telling him that. In fact, I had thought about kissing him once; when we were studying at my house but Aloki had been there so I stopped myself.

Cato realised that I was confused, "On... your second day, just before I yelled at you for saying I didn't need to know about berries. You said I was 'strong and handsome'."

I didn't like that he remembered that. I didn't like that I'd actually said that. So I changed the topic, "Can you swim?"

"What? Um... yeah but not well."

"I can teach you. Do you want to learn?"

Cato looked a little annoyed by me not answering him but he gave in regardless. He nodded and moved towards the lake, slowly removing his clothing until he was just in his underwear. I don't know why he bothered taking off his clothes; a little water never hurt fabric before. Or at least not fabric that we had access to.

I ran towards the centre of the lake, lifting my legs as high as possible to reduce the drag of the water around them. The look on Cato's face as he watched me told me that he thought I looked like a fool. Just like yesterday, the feel of the water was so nice that I didn't care about anything other than swimming in it. Once the water was midway up my thighs, I jumped forward and dived under the surface.

Under the surface the lake water was surprisingly clear. I could easily see the patches of algae and pondweed that spotted the silty lake floor, in their varying shades of green. Clusters of long tangled roots drifted past my head as they hung from the blanket of leaves that they connected to. Thin silver fish darted between patches of vegetation and the sunlight through the water made them glitter like they were made of the smoothest, cleanest metal.

My lungs demanded that I return to the surface. If it weren't for the pressure building in my chest then I would not have dared to even consider such an unpleasant thing. As a child I used to pretend that I was not human but rather some aquatic animal, like a turtle or an otter. I'd spend hours pretending, living in my own watery little world. There was only ever one problem, and that was my lack of gills.

The air above the water was frigid, made worst by the water that drenched my hair and ran in rivers down my face. I tried wiping them away but my wet hands only seemed to confound the issue. I snorted and found that an unexpected amount of water had gone up my nose during my dive. It wasn't anything new, I'd always been the worst in the family at keeping my nose and mouth free of water, but as long as I didn't inhale any water it was nothing to worry about.

"How the hell do you do that?" Cato asked and I turned slowly to see him treading water a few metres away.

"Do what?"

He smiled, "Stay under the water for that long? I can barely hold my breath for thirty seconds and you had to be under there for at least two minutes."

I shrugged, "Practice makes perfect, I guess."

"It's hot." Cato mumbled as he drifted closer towards me. He was less than a foot away and getting closer by the second.

"Actually, it's kinda cold." I laughed before pushing him away and duck diving back under the water.

It was childish and stupid, but it was too nice to be in the water again for me to care about how I was acting. Mum had always said that acting like a child was how you stayed youthful, and I guess she would know because she'd never looked old enough for her age.

I buried my hands into the cold mud, digging my fingers in as if to anchor myself to the lakebed. Pulling my knees down towards my hands I sat on the grey silt and inspected the surroundings. The lake got deeper behind me and darker to the point that I couldn't see anything through the watery blur of diffused light. A green turtle with a single red streak down the side of its face swam past and disappeared amongst some tall waterweed.

Air. I hated how much I depended on air. I released my grip on the fine sand and launched off the lakebed. The water rushed past my ears until the chill replaced it and I had to cover them with my hands to stop the stinging pain.

"Are you okay?" Cato asked; he was once again a few metres away, I hadn't realised how far away from him I'd swam.

I curled into a ball and let myself sink under the surface. Sinking felt just as nice as swimming and it didn't take any effort at all. I watched the surface as I sunk and saw the white mass of Cato's splashing at the surface. My best guess was that he was trying to get to where I had been a few moments before. He must have thought something was wrong because his movements seemed panicked.

My conscience got the better of me and I unfurled myself to head back up. Still, I wasn't that concerned about his potential alarm and I took the opportunity when it was offered to me. My fingers gripped his ankle and I could feel the twitch of shock.

I laughed as I broke through the surface and sent water flying in every direction. The look on Cato's face was even better than the feel of his surprise. I'd never seen anyone look so comically annoyed and relieved. We were inches away from one another and he stared me straight in the eye as he waited for my laughing fit to end.

"I thought you were hurt. I thought you were about to drown. Why would you do that?" he snapped, clearly he didn't see the funny side.

I shook my head at him, "Oh, come on. I'm from Four, it'd take a lot more to drown me then just being submerged."

Cato looked like he wanted to say something. There was something sitting on the tip of his tongue but he wasn't able to say it. I wasn't sure whether it was a matter of couldn't or wouldn't; if it was wouldn't then he was doing well to hold back. Whatever it was, he really wanted to say it. Couldn't seemed more likely, he couldn't think of the words to voice how he was feeling. So I decided to help him out.

I kissed him.


	9. The Grim Reaper

"We can't do this." I mumble as we stopped by the lake. The walk here had been tense with my consternation but it wasn't until I was within reach of the lake that I was able to verbalise it.

Cato looked confused, "We can't do what?"

Yesterday we had kissed, for the second time, but it was the only one that really meant anything. It had been a passionate kiss. Something that I hadn't experienced for such a long time that I had forgotten kisses could be like that.

Since the death of my father some two months ago, I hadn't had much time for intimacy. I had had a boyfriend when it happened but that relationship was over the second I received that horrible news. He'd tried to keep us together, tried to remind me that we were good together. I wanted to believe him, I had wanted it to work, but something had changed and I couldn't change it back.

A month and a bit later, Eitan got the job at the quarry. A week after that, we boarded the train to District Two. Now, just two weeks after arriving, I was making out with a Career that before my arrival I would have despised. It was funny how things had ended up, but they couldn't stay this way.

"This. Us. Whatever it is that we became yesterday. It has to end now."

Cato stepped closer to me and I stepped back. He looked hurt as he questioned me, "Why? Did you not enjoy it?"

"It's not about enjoying it. It's about survival." I stepped back again as he continued to try to breach the distance between us.

"For me, it's about desire. It's about want." Cato said with a small smile.

I shook my head, "Blame the Capitol."

Cato stepped forward again and I tried to move away, but his hand gripped my wrist and he pulled me into him. His body was firm under his T-shirt and the black fabric was warmed by the sun. It was nice within his arms but I knew that I couldn't let myself fall for this.

"Why should I blame the Capitol? They're not the ones trying to break my heart."

I pushed away from him, "Don't be so melodramatic, your heart will be fine. It is the fault of the Capitol because this is about the Games."

"What do the Games have to do with anything?" Cato growled; he was starting to get angry with me.

"Everything. We are Careers. Our lives revolve around the Games and we can't deny or forget it, not for even a second."

Cato's fists clenched at his side and his eyes hardened as he stared at me, "You're going to have to explain yourself better. What do the Games have to do with the type of relationship we have?"

"Next year it's our crew's turn to volunteer and when that happens, who do you think will be putting their hands up?" Cato was silent and I knew it was because he was finally comprehending what I meant, but I decided to keep talking anyway, "You and me. I'm the oldest girl and you're the best guy. If we… I can't go up against you, not if I feel any more for you than I already do."

Cato smiled, "So you do have feelings for me?"

I shook my head at him. I was talking about not wanting to fall for a guy that I would possibly have to watch die, maybe even have to kill myself, and all he was concerned with was the idea that I had feelings for him. It was also stupid because I wouldn't spend as much time with Cato as I did if I hated him. Even if I was just trying to placate the masses, I wouldn't bother with the hours that I'd spent with him if there wasn't some form of affection towards him. Not to mention that yesterday I had kissed him.

"Do you think I go around making out with every guy I come across?"

He watched me carefully, "Three nights ago, in the Training Yard, just before you revealed yourself… Clove kissed me."

That was unexpected and it made me kind of angry to hear. Clove shouldn't have done that, I didn't know her that well and I was fairly sure she didn't really like me, but it wasn't cool for her to kiss Cato. I knew why I didn't like it; I was nothing if not mature enough to understand my own emotions. I didn't want anyone kissing Cato, except for me. This wasn't really fair on Cato, that I should turn him away but, at the same time, not want him to be with someone else.

I took a deep breath, "Then maybe you should ask her out. You'd make a cute couple."

"Oh, for fuck's sake! I don't want to ask Clove out. And isn't that the same thing anyway, only without you. Clove is fifteen, meaning that in three years time she will be volunteering. Should I survive the Games next year than Clove would be going in two years later. That's potentially three years of a relationship with Clove only to have both our lives risked." Cato stepped back and shrugged, "But hey, as long as you don't get hurt."

Cato turned on his heels and marched away from the lake. His shoulders held square and rigid. I could see the anger that rolled off his motionless shoulders even as his frame shrunk into the shadows of the forest. He was mad; not that I blamed him. His point was legitimate, it was selfish of me to not care about him being in a relationship with another Career.

I hated the Capitol. If it weren't for their stupid Hunger Games then this wouldn't be an issue. Then again, if it weren't for their stupid Hunger Games, I wouldn't be a Career and I would never have met Cato. But I was a big believer in Chaos Theory, in which case something like not having the Hunger Games would probably mess with a whole lot of other things.

The lake was cold as I walked into it, but the feel of the water was as cathartic as ever. I thought of nothing as I floated on the surface, staring at the sky and feeling the water flow in slow ripples past my still form.

In the last three weeks I had spent about twelve hours, total, alone with Cato. Cato seemed to forgive me, a little, for what I'd said but things were still tense. Most of our time together was spent with the rest of the crew. Our study sessions had ended and it was easy enough to explain that away, as I'd said in the Training Yard that they were pointless. The time that we had spent alone together, were more just an attempt to keep peoples suspicions at bay, although I had a feeling it wasn't working.

Today was the day of the Reaping. For the last three weeks most of the resources had been going to Raze's crew, as they were the ones who were going into the Games today. I wondered what it was like for them, knowing who would be volunteering and who was safe. I wondered what it was like for the volunteer to know that in a short while, twenty-three teenagers would be hoping for their death. In District Four I had never had to really worry about it, as almost all our planned volunteers were eighteen and had months to prepare for this day.

The Reaping was different in Two than it was in Four, different in ways that were more than just timing. In District Four, the Reaping started at 10AM in front of the Export Docks and everyone made their way there alone. In District Two, the Reaping was held in front of the Justice Building, which was an hour's cart ride from our town. This meant that we had to leave the town before 8AM in order to make it to the Reaping on time. The richer families had cars that they used to get to Justice Building, the ride only took them about twenty minutes.

I envied them because the ride was awkward for me. I was in a cart with five others; Aloki, Maya, Pierce, Cato and Clove. Rumour had it that Cato had asked Clove out and she'd said yes, it was something that we hadn't expressly spoken about but they were sitting rather close together. Maya sat between me and Aloki and Pierce sat opposite me, staring at me.

"So what happened between you and Cato?" Pierce whispered. Cato flashed him a warning look but it seemed that Clove didn't hear anything.

I smiled at him, "He got me eliminated from the Training Yard. I don't trust the little fucker anymore."

Pierce laughed, "So it has nothing to do with that kiss? I swear I didn't know he was going to do that."

"He told me that."

Maya gripped my hand. She had barely slept an hour last night, worried that her name would be called. I had assured her that no matter whose name was called it would be Mineek Thatcher who would be entering the Games. It didn't help. She worried that something would happen and Mineek wouldn't volunteer. I didn't blame her, she was young and afraid. But I knew that there was nothing, short of her death between now and the selection, that would stop Mineek from volunteering.

"It's going to be okay, Maya. Last night Mineek Thatcher dreamt about being Victor, she's not going to let anyone stand in the way of that dream coming true." I whispered and squeezed her hand. Maya nodded and dropped her head onto my shoulder.

We didn't stay like that for long. It was almost 9 o'clock and we were just arriving at the Justice Building. We filed off the coach and made our way to the registration desk. There were lots of Peacekeepers assisting in the registration process and the lines of potential tributes were moving fast. Everything here was organised to within an inch of being robotic.

Pierce's younger sister came up to us and led Maya away, she was going to make sure she did everything right and avoided attracting attention. Aloki and Clove walked with Maya for a short distance as they made their way to the queue they were supposed to be in. They had fourteen queues, one for each age and gender. Twelve years was to my left and eighteen years was to my right, Cato and I walked with Pierce until we reached the lines for seventeen year olds. From here we filed up to the registration table and then into our respective roped off areas.

Once in the required areas we were to stand in alphabetical order. The organisation was ridiculous but it seemed to work well. Within five minutes of arriving everything was sorted and we were just waiting for the escort and District Victors to make an appearance. In Four the set up would take a good half hour and there wouldn't be half the order that there was here. The only rule they had was that the volunteer was on the edge of the group so that they could quickly make themselves known.

Finally the escort waltzed onto the stage in front of the Justice Building and sits in the seat next to the mayor. He was an older looking gentleman with a golden mullet, and I'm not talking blonde, I mean literally golden. When paired with his gold jacket and turquoise tie and pants, it was not a nice look. Why the Capitol citizens felt the need to go so bizarre with their clothes I had no idea but I wished they'd stop. This escort looked like a fucking tool.

The mayor is the first to speak and he goes through the usual rigmarole of reading out the history of the Hunger Games. I had never realised that it was exactly the same for each District because normally you only hear the one that your mayor reads out, but it was word for word the same as the one the mayor in Four reads every year. Once that was over, the mayor read through the list of Victors. District Two has eight living victors, the most of all the Districts.

Once the mayor was finished, it was the Escort's chance to speak and he lunged at the podium in his excitement to start talking, "Welcome everyone, to the 73rd Hunger Games. It is an honour to stand before you today, as we prepare to celebrate another year and another Hunger Games.

"I will not hold up proceedings any longer. Let us select the first Tribute. We'll start with the men..." he stepped to his right and reached into the large glass bowl, which was surprisingly empty in comparison to what I was used to, "And the lucky man is Tenney Gomery."

The escort had barely finished saying the name before movement caught my eye and Raze stepped out from his sector, "I volunteer!" The Peacekeepers didn't even flinch as Raze made his way up to the stage. It was so normal for them that they didn't even get escorted to the stage.

"Lovely." The escort chirped, "And your name is..?"

Raze stepped up beside the escort and announced into the microphone, "Raze Conrad."

"Well done, Mr Conrad. I'm sure you'll make District Two very proud. Now for the ladies." The escort moved over to the second bowl and reached in, making a lot of fuss over the selection. I really didn't like this escort, he was annoying me and I'd only been looking at him for about ten minutes.

There was movement in the section behind me and I looked over my shoulder. A girl that Cato had pointed out to me about a week ago was moving along the front of her group, towards the aisle that ran between the two groups of teens. She stopped in front of the girl that I recognised as the one Aloki had apparently been flirting with over a month ago. That girl gave me a truly frightening evil eye and my own stubbornness flared up to make me stare back at her.

I remembered the feeling of blood gushing from my nose and how it had snuck into my mouth and flooded my tongue with its metallic taste. She was the reason that I had had to taste my own blood and I wasn't going to let her think that I was afraid of her. I was surprised that she was eighteen, she looked barely sixteen but that was probably due to easy living.

The escort said a name that I didn't quite catch because just as I was about to take my attention away from Inna, she jumped forward. Slamming her elbow into the back of Mineek's head before Mineek got a chance to volunteer. It was brutal and yet unsurprising. The weird beauty that I had noted as being distinctly Inna was suddenly not so weird. It was violence; violence was what made her beautiful.

Peacekeepers started pushing their way through the group of teenage girls but it was too late. Mineek was knocked out cold, she wouldn't be volunteering this year. Two Peacekeepers picked up Mineek's limp body and one snarled something at Inna. Her bottom lip started to quiver and she whimpered something about being pushed and tripping over her feet. The Peacekeeper accepted her lame excuse and followed after his colleagues.

"Attention! Attention, please, ladies and gentlemen." The escort yelled into the microphone to get everyone back on track, "I'll repeat the name. The young lady who will be representing District Two is Alfie Neilsson."

To say that I was shocked would be a gross understatement. My knees almost buckled in my disbelief and I looked around for some sign that this was some big joke. But no one moved so I reluctantly made my way towards the aisle. When I reached it, I looked down the back towards where the Peacekeepers had taken Mineek, but neither she nor the Peacekeepers were anywhere to be seen.

This was not good.

I was waiting in the Justice Building for the first people that I was going to say good-bye to. I obviously wanted to see my family but outside of them I really wanted to see Pierce and ask him what the fuck had just happened. It felt a little surreal, like I was about to wake up from this nightmare and head off to the real reaping.

The door opened and my family walked in. Maya ran around the couch and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me down to her level as she was a good foot shorter than me. She was shaking and sobbing. It broke my heart to know that she was upset. She'd already lost her mother and father and now it looked like she was about to lose me as well. I dropped to my knees and gripped my own hands behind her back.

"You can't go." She cried as she sobbed into my shoulder.

I sighed and hugged her tighter.

"She doesn't have a choice, Maya." Aloki mumbled as he tried to pry Maya away from me.

"No." I snapped and momentarily let go of Maya with one hand to push Aloki away. No one was going to end this except for Maya or myself.

Eitan knelt down beside us, "Just remember your training. You can win this."

My eyes shot to Eitan's and I tried to decipher the emotion behind his words. I knew that part of it was his own feeble attempt to maintain his own hope and keep things together for the others. But I could see that a part of him genuinely believed that I was skilled enough to make it through the Games. His hope was founded by his own misguided faith in me.

The best I could think to get out of these Games was to do so by killing just one teenager. Chances were that I would have to kill more than that, or risk dying at their hands. I knew that in the face of death people could do some astounding things but I wasn't sure if I actually had it in me to kill someone. To actually take a life was not the same as the skirmishes we had in the Training Hall. How could it be? How could I do it?

"Well, I'm certainly not going to just lie down and die." I mumble and a small smile crept onto Eitan's face.

Aloki stepped into view, "You need to get into the Cornucopia and find some throwing axes."

"I know." I sighed and pulled back from Maya, "I don't want you to watch, at least not after we enter the Arena. These guys will tell you anything you need to know."

"But I want to watch." Maya whined. Dad had never allowed her to watch the Games before but she had been told that once she was old enough to become a tribute, she was allowed to watch them. I didn't want that to happen. If anyone else had have been in my place then I would have let her watch, but not now. In case things didn't go my way, which was the most likely outcome, I didn't want her to witness it.

"No." I growled, "You are not to watch it. You go to classes and then you go home. Do not watch! I beg of you, Maya, don't watch."

Maya's eyes welled with fresh tears and she pulled me into another bone crushing hug. She was so much like our mother, who had the most painful hug you would ever feel. Despite the potential for pain, there was always a strong element of comfort and concern. Mum had given the best hugs and it looked like Maya was on her way to replicating that.

"Time's up." A Peacekeeper barked and held the door open for them to leave.

Maya tore herself away from me and stood weeping in front of me. Eitan gave me a quick hug and then turned to embrace Maya, something which she really needed and I was thankful for. Aloki held out his hand for me and I shook it, before he pulled me into a man hug. Maya pulled away from Eitan and hugged me one last time.

After they left, Cato and Pierce marched in.

Cato strode past the couch, straight up to me. He cupped my face in his hands and pulled me closer to him. He pressed his lips firmly against mine, and I let myself melt into his touch. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held myself as close to him as I could. I had missed this over the last three weeks, more than I thought I would.

Pierce coughed loudly to remind us of his presence and we slowly stepped away from one another. For a second I was embarrassed about what we had just done in front of him but after that fleeting moment I realised that my embarrassment was stupid and I pushed it aside. With the embarrassment gone, I remembered what it was that I wanted to talk to Pierce about.

"What happened?" I asked as I turned to Pierce, "What happened to Mineek?"

Cato and Pierce shared a silent moment before Pierce answered me, "It's simple. Raze's crew don't like you. The plan was for Mineek to volunteer unless you or Maya were selected, in which case... well, you know what's happening now."

"Why? I never did anything to them, except calling Inna a whore but I'm sure I'm not the first to do that."

"It's not about Inna." Cato mumbled and pulled me onto the couch so that we sat beside one another, "They don't think of you as being a District Two tribute. To them you're a District Four tribute and they are confident that Raze is going to be victorious this year."

I shook my head and stared at my feet. Not only had I been dragged to a District that I didn't want to live in, now I had to represent them in the Hunger Games and they didn't even want to accept me as one of them. It surprised me how much it hurt to think that this District had already forsaken me, before we'd even stepped onto the train to the Capitol. Somehow, I felt even more alone now than I ever had before.

"We believe in you. You go to the Capitol as District Two's female tribute and you'll come back as District Two's newest Victor." Pierce said with a strange confidence that I didn't expect from him. He truly believed that I could win this and his confidence bewildered me.

Cato grabbed my face gently and forced me to look at him, "You're smarter than Raze. You can do this and when you do... we can be together. Your concern won't matter when you're a Victor." He kissed me again and I felt a single tear run down my cheek.

Career or not, I wasn't prepared for this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

My laptop battery had died and my recharge cord is no longer working, so I don't have a laptop for the moment. I am currently using my Mum's but I really don't like using it because it's old and really slow. Hopefully I will have my laptop functioning again within a week or so but until then I might be a little slow with the updates.


	10. Before The Massacre

_**CATO'S POV**_

The Neilsson residence became our hub for everything pre-Games. All the Careers had this time off from classes, so we could watch how the Tributes handled the Hunger Games. Eitan had instituted what he called the 'Open Door Support Arrangement'. Essentially, it was a request for us to come over and watch the Games here in case something happened and they needed some... assistance. It was also partly so that Eitan could make sure Maya wasn't turning on the Games when no one was around.

We all went back to the Neilsson's straight after the Reaping to decide how we were going to handle this. I was already sick with concern and Alfie wasn't in the Arena yet. I couldn't imagine how Eitan or Aloki felt and Maya's feelings were so foreign to me that I didn't even want to try. She took it worse than her brothers and when we got back to their house she ran straight to her bedroom. Only to scream in anguish before dashing across the hall to Eitan's room. I guess that the room she shared with Alfie was a little daunting at the moment.

After a very slow discussion, it came to a screeching halt more than once, we moved into the lounge room to watch the other Reapings. We were all curious as to who she would be competing against but at the same time I was worried. I'd never been upset about watching Reapings before, but I'd never had so much to lose.

I really liked Alfie. She was strong and independent, a Career through and through. I had never been attracted to a Career before but Alfie was different. I think it was the fact that I found her intriguing, her District Four upbringing made her different from the girls here in Two. Not to mention that I found her passion and drive for her family incredibly enticing. And I was terrified that she might not come back.

After watching the last three Reapings, I felt a fair bit better. The District Ten Tributes were short and stocky in build but there still wasn't much to them, Alfie wouldn't have a problem dispatching of them. District Eleven produced its usual pair of weedy Tributes; Alfie could fight her way through them without breaking a sweat. District Twelve was being represented by two tall Tributes but apart from their slight height advantage they didn't provide anything that was all that threatening.

Maya refused to come out for the Reapings, even though Eitan said she could watch them. We all assumed she was too distraught to come out. The Neilssons didn't really show strong emotions to people outside of their family and I was sure that Maya didn't want us to see her cry. Eitan often excused himself from the room and would come back with eyes redder than they had been when he left. When Jaylyn arrived shortly after the last of the live Reapings ended, Eitan and her disappeared into the kitchen and didn't return.

After the last Reaping, they played through a list of impressive moments from past Hunger Games. District Two Tributes made many appearances during this time but I was more interested in the Tributes from District Four. Aloki talked about several of the District Four Victors when they were shown on the television. Apparently they used to live next to the Cresta family, until their daughter survived her Hunger Games. According to Aloki, Annie Cresta wasn't the same after she got back and I could tell that he was worried that might happen to his sister.

At six o'clock they had a recap of the Reapings.

District One had its usual well dressed, healthy looking Career Tributes with their bizarre names. Taffeit King, yes his surname was King; he was tall and muscular and probably one of Alfie's biggest threats, second only to Raze. And Chenille Marsden, who was the most unfortunate looking girl I had ever seen and laden with so many gems I was surprised that she could stand under their weight.

The District Three Tributes were very mild looking. Both were of average height and were incredibly scrawny, but I knew that they shouldn't be counted out right away. District Three was well known for producing Tributes of above average intelligence. For a non-Career District they had their fair share of Victors.

It was the District Four Reaping that caused the most hassle. Before the Reaping was aired they showed photos and statistics of the Tributes and from the second the faces flashed across the screen there were issues. The girl, who went by the name of Yolanna Houston, was Eitan's friend's ex-girlfriend and Aloki cringed when her face appeared on the screen.

But it was the boy who created the biggest stir. In fact, Aloki damn near fainted at the sight of him, the colour ran from his face and he screamed for Eitan to join us. Eitan was been in his room with Maya and Jaylyn, when Aloki roared, "Eitan! Emergency!"

Eitan burst into room a few seconds later and his eyes scanned us before flashing to the television screen. His reaction was similar to Aloki's and he turned towards the hall, "Stop! Maya, you and Jaylyn should go back to my room. Now!"

"What is it?" Maya squeaked.

"Nu- Nothing." Eitan stuttered, "Just go back to the room, I'll explain it later." After a few moments of hesitation, Eitan moved into the room and closer to the television.

Aloki scooted forward on the couch, "Do you think Alfie's watching this? Right now?"

Eitan sighed, "I sure as hell hope not."

"Why? Is he a relative of yours or something?" Pierce asked. I could tell by his face that he was as annoyed by his absence from the loop as I was.

Aloki shook his head but it was Eitan who explained it to us, "His name is Calder Van Dillon. He spent every afternoon at our place for over a year. He was almost like a fifth Neilsson."

"He was a friend." I sighed. This wasn't good. What Alfie had feared was going to come true, only it was going to come true for her and a guy from Four. I figured that one consolation was that she wasn't in love with this guy, as I hoped she was in love with me. But still, to watch your long time friend die would not be an easy thing; and I prayed that it didn't come down to them as the final two.

I noticed that Aloki had continued to shake his head and he whispered, "Worse."

Eitan bit his lip softly and closed his eyes. He let out a long sigh before confirming the absolute worst, "They dated, for more than eighteen months. If it weren't for Dad's drowning then they would probably still be together."

"She loved him." I half whimpered as I realised that this was going to be absolutely horrible for Alfie.

"And he, her." Aloki muttered. He stared at Eitan, "Maya can't watch any of it. She can't know that he's in the Games."

"Agreed." Eitan sighed and Pierce and I nodded.

Maya had kicked up a stink when Eitan told her she wasn't allowed to watch the pre-Game events. But we all sided with the eldest Neilsson, it was best that Maya didn't know that Calder was in the Games. Maya had really liked Calder, she thought of him as a third brother and considering the relationship he'd had with Alfie, it wasn't surprising.

I didn't like thinking about Alfie being with him. He was handsome and he looked like a nice guy. From what Aloki and Eitan told me about him he was a nice guy, and it had broken his heart when Alfie had broken up with him. They blamed it on the loss of their father. Alfie had had a strong relationship with her father and the thought that he had drowned had messed her up a little.

It was nice to hear that after she'd met me and we'd started spending time together, she had reverted to her old self; rather than the brooding, depressed Alfie she'd been since that fateful day. Still, it was painful to think about what lay ahead of her. She'd broken it, whatever it was, with me because she didn't want this event to happen but now it was happening anyway.

The Chariot Parade was spectacular. The poorer Districts wore their usual stereotypical costumes but the Career Districts were decked out in the most eye catching uniforms. District One wore translucent fabric body suits that were embedded with gems and had thin gold wires weaving between the gems. District Four wore clothes made from woven seaweed and shells. District Two, Alfie and Raze, were clad in fierce Grecian Armour of black leather and polished gold, with helmets that had plums of coloured hair cascading from their crown. Raze's was a bloody crimson but Alfie's was a brilliant, sickly lime. In a strange way it suited her because it wasn't as violent as Raze's but it still had a deadly look to it.

Three nights later we had watched for her Training Score. Maya was allowed to watch up to Alfie's score but no further. Eitan hoped that they didn't show a close up of Calder in the montage of the Tributes time in the Training Centre before they announced the actual score.

Taffeit from District One received a 10.

Chenille from District One received an 8.

Raze from District Two received a 10.

I knew Alfie well but her Training Score still surprised me. Pierce's shock was so great that he swore, quite loudly, and his mouth stood agape for the next three score announcements. We had seen Alfie with swords and knives and a myriad of other weapons but nothing that we could see as warranting the score that she got. And we were her friends.

Alfie from District Two received an 11.

Robin from District Three received a 7.

Tilly from District Three received a 7.

We were barely able to get Maya out of the room before Calder's name was announced. In fact, Pierce and myself started talking extra loud to make sure that she couldn't hear it, just in case they announced it early. That confused Maya but I think it threw her enough that she was more willing to comply with her brothers' demands.

Calder from District Four received a 10.

Yolanna from District Four received a 9.

Hanson from Dictrict Five received a 5.

Istella from Dictrict Five received a 7.

Vorgene from Dictrict Six received a 7.

Abelle from Dictrict Six received a 6.

Jesper from Dictrict Seven received a 9.

Oliveen from Dictrict Seven received a 9.

Jeyrud from Dictrict Eight received a 7.

Tully from Dictrict Eight received an 8.

Lin from Dictrict Nine received a 7.

Molly from Dictrict Nine received a 6.

Evun from Dictrict Ten received a 6.

Zarra from Dictrict Ten received an 8.

Justin from Dictrict Eleven received a 5.

Pia from Dictrict Eleven received a 6.

Sammi from Dictrict Twelve received a 5.

Felicity from Dictrict Twelve received a 5.

I hoped that Alfie wasn't paying too much attention to their names. No doubt she would recall one of them at just the wrong time and end up getting herself killed because of her own remorse. I wasn't sure whether knowing their names would actually make it harder on her or not but something told me it was better for her not to go testing that one out.

It had been a week of revelations so far and I had a feeling that today wasn't going to be any different. It was the interviews today and once again Maya was upset about not being allowed to watch all the interviews. Eitan had said that he would call her when Alfie's interview was about to start but after the interview was finished then so were Maya's viewing privileges.

We were all seated around the television as Alfie walked up to Caesar Flickerman and reached out a hand to greet him. He took it graciously and gestured for her to take a seat. She wore a beautiful dress of off-white fabric that was designed like something you'd see a woman from Ancient Rome wearing, gathered in spots by lengths of golden rope. She looked like a Goddess, with her flowing dress and perfectly styled dark brown hair. I hated the thought that she looked so good and was so far away from me.

"So, Alfie... you're a rare Tribute. Tell us, how does it feel to be competing for District Two when you were born in District Four?" Caesar said with a large smile.

Alfie looked uninterested as she answered, "It's slightly worrying, I guess. There are three people sitting behind us who know my strengths and weaknesses, that's two more than everyone else has to contend with."

"But I'm sure that means that you know their strengths and weaknesses too." Caesar was never fazed by the personalities of the tributes, he was a master interviewer.

"Of course it does. I knew both of them well." Alfie sighed as she scanned the audience. She was pulling off severe indifference with effortless perfection.

Caesar's smile dropped and his body language was suddenly serious, "Do you think that your past friendship might negatively impact your judgement in the Arena?"

Even through the television we could tell that audience loved this line of questioning. Everyone knew that the Capitol lived for drama and what could be more dramatic than three friends having to fight to the death. The only way it could get better would be if the three of them ended up as the final three; better for the Capitol that is. For everyone else, particularly Four and to a lesser extent Two, it was just about the worst thing that could happen in the Hunger Games. It was just another way that the Capitol was flaunting its control over us, by making friends kill one another.

Alfie flashed a glare at the audience and her response was hard, "I think that in the face of death it is unwise to assume that my affections for them would give them any sort of advantage."

"Now, you must be aware that with a Training Score like 11, you have a rather large target on your back." Unlike most of the Capitol, Caesar Flickerman seemed to be genuinely concerned about the tributes, which made me wonder why he was involved in the Games.

"I'm aware that that may be the case but I don't care. I do think that people should think carefully about who they target first because missing could be a fatal mistake, if they choose wrong."

The threat was so clear that Maya shivered slightly. I knew what Alfie was doing, a lot of Careers use this tactic although Alfie was pulling it off particularly well. She was painting herself as the no nonsense assassin; as a smart and powerful Tribute, who should not be messed with until every other tribute has been seen to. It wasn't entirely untrue, I was sure that Alfie was going to be a force to reckon with once inside the Arena, but I also knew that the idea of killing either of the District Four Tributes would be hacking her up on the inside.

"I have to ask, Alfie, about your family. It hasn't been an easy few years for your family, has it?" Caesar moved to the edge of his seat and leant in to try to coax some feeling out of Alfie.

"No. My mother died about five years ago and my father died at sea about three months back. My brother then got a job in Two so we moved." It didn't seem to matter how much concern he showed, Alfie wasn't going to come across as anything other than cold and unsympathetic.

"It must have been hard to leave your friends behind at such a time in your life."

Alfie sat back in her chair, clearly uncomfortable with how close Caesar was sitting to her, "It wasn't a party."

Caesar decided to change tactics and I was uncertain why he was doing it, the touchy feely route was not helping Alfie's case, "I'm sure a lovely young woman, like yourself, has made lots of friends in District Two."

"A few."

"So, is there a significant other awaiting your return to District Two?" Caesar smiled at Alfie and she looked a little confused. I was intrigued by what her answer might be but was still unsure of what he was trying to do.

"I'll answer that when I'm victor." The audience laughed at this, but it wasn't a laugh of mocking. It was a laugh of, what I could only describe as, approval. I don't know how he did it but Caesar Flickerman had the Capitol on Alfie's side.

A small buzz sounded and Caesar beamed at Alfie, "I will hold you to that one, but for now, that's all the time we have. Good luck in the Arena, Alfie."

Alfie shook Caesar's hand as she got calmly to her feet. I noticed that she was wearing flat strappy sandals, which was a rarity during the interview for the girls, as they were normally forced into high heels. Not that Alfie needed to; at 5'11" she was already taller than at least half the male tributes.

It happened before we could do anything to stop it. The camera panned across the twenty-three tributes that were sitting in the semi-circle around Alfie and Caesar Flickerman. Maya squealed when she saw him and she turned on her brothers. For a twelve year old she looked very formidable, even when facing down boys that were both more than seven inches taller than her.

"This was the Emergency! He was the Emergency!" she screeched.

Eitan got up from his spot beside Jaylyn and reached out to his sister, "My..."

"Don't! I trusted you. You said you'd tell me everything I needed to know. I think Cal is something that I need to know." It was awkward hearing sweet little Maya sound so hurt and angry.

Aloki grabbed Maya's hand and pulled her onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her tight. It was like he'd flicked a switch and Maya burst into tears. She sobbed into his shoulder as he stroked her back. Her petite little body was wracked with her ragged breaths and she tried to verbalise her fear but nothing more than broken syllables made it into existence.


	11. The First Eight

My heart was pounding in my chest, so hard that it almost hurt.

To the west there was a small mountain range, barely big enough to be classified as a mountain. It was a savage looking thing despite its short stature as many of its sides consisted of sheer cliff faces. Encircling the rest of the Cornucopia was a vast expanse of wetlands, noisy and water logged. I could smell the stagnant water and imagined all the creepy crawlies that inhabited it. The boggy environment should make it easier to track down other tributes, unfortunately that meant it would be harder to get away from them.

The sight of my fellow tributes had my lungs frozen with anxiety. Odds were that one of those twenty-three teenagers was going to kill me, and within the next couple of weeks. I couldn't help but wonder how it would happen, when and by whom. Last night I had barely slept for wondering about it. The thoughts made me sick to my stomach.

I didn't want to die.

My eyes scanned the land between me and the Cornucopia, searching for the weapon that would help me the most. The closest weapon was a bow, but no arrows, not that that would have helped me any. At the very mouth of the Cornucopia was an elegant silver trident, that wasn't much use to me either. There wasn't much around here that I could wield with any great prowess. No knives. No daggers. No axes. Not even a sword was within my reach.

A tribute about nine spots away from me caught my attention momentarily. After the moment of hesitation my eyes jumped to the other side of the circle. It was bad enough that I had broken up with him when he had been so perfectly amazing, but now we were being pitted against one another. I was pained by the knowledge that at least one of us was not going to make it out of here. And I wasn't sure whether I would be happier if it was me or him.

In my desperation to not catch Calder's eye, I spied something. It was nothing more than a glimmer of light to begin with, but as I concentrated on it, its form solidified. A severely curved double-headed steel blade attached to a short wooden handle. The sight of them seemed to ease the ache of my nervous heart. I had to get to them, they were the best chance I had and I needed to get them before someone else took them. I was screwed if one of the District Seven tributes got them, especially if they were to then die and the Gamekeepers took their body and the axes.

Now I had something else to thank Calder for. It didn't make sense but I felt that I owed him. I had already broken his metaphorical heart and I didn't want to be responsible for stopping his literal one. My interview was mostly just me trying to sound confident and praying that everyone fell for it. There was little chance that I would have the balls to kill Calder, not unless he was trying to kill me. And even then, I had doubts.

A gong rings out and I'm off the metal disc before the noise has finished reverberating around us.

The ground between the starting point and the golden Cornucopia was firmer than I expected. I had prepared myself for my feet to sink into the grassy terrain like it was the beach just after the king tide, but they didn't and I was only just able to stop myself stumbling over the unexpected solidity. Once I had my footing confirmed I turned my attention to the speed at which I was moving.

I was slightly surprised that I was the first to reach them because there were several tributes that were closer than I had been. As I scooped down to pick them up, I looked over my shoulder and the second I did, I regretted it. One of the District Seven tributes was hot on my heels and he was gaining on me, fast. It was exactly what I was afraid of. I adjusted my grip on them so that I held one in each hand; if he caught up with me then I had to have some way of defending myself.

My slight lead on him didn't last and soon I could feel his fingertips grazing my bare elbow. It had my heart thumping in my ears and I could almost feel the adrenalin coursing through my body. When his left hand wrapped around my right elbow, I knew I was in trouble. I tried to pull away but his grip was too tight.

He gave an almighty yank and I fell back towards him. I raised my left hand to strike him with the one weapon I had available to me, as my right arm was still caught in his large hand. But he stopped me before I made contact with him and as I struggled to free myself, we fell to the ground. My right arm was pinned in such a way that my wrist pressed on the blade while my fingers were trapped under the handle, the weight and pressure of it made my joints ache.

"Give me the fucking axes." He growled as he fought to control my flailing.

We were at a stalemate. I couldn't move below his weight and I couldn't get the blades anywhere near his flesh. And he couldn't let go of either arm because he knew that if he did, I would take my chance to slit his throat. I tried getting my feet between our bodies but my legs were pinned beneath his shins. We were stuck and it was a dangerous position. Anyone could turn around and kill us both.

There was a blur of silver and suddenly something warm was dripping on my face. District Seven's eyes glazed over as his blood ran along his forehead and down the bridge of his nose. His grip on my arms lessened and his body crumpled sideways. I scrambled out from under his dead weight and dodged the silver trident that was lodged in his head.

I didn't need to look to know who threw it, so I didn't. Instead I kept running. The other tributes were either at the edge of the wetlands or fighting at the Cornucopia, so my run was uninterrupted once I was back on my feet. My destination was the wetlands, more specifically the little group of tributes that had just started sloshing their way through the water. It was a good choice because as I ran I spotted yet another pair of throwing axes, I could barely believe my luck as I grabbed their steel handles.

By the time I reached the edge of the water, where I'd seen the other tributes disappear, I had the axes stowed in my belt and my hands free to grip the trees, to give me a little extra stability. I had to avoid ending up in the water, the bottom would be soft and swallow up my feet, making it hard to move fast. If I kept to the edges and the trees then I had a somewhat firm place to put my feet. It would be the fastest way through the wetlands.

Unfortunately it wasn't a consistent method, as sometimes the high ground vanished in front of me and sometimes the trees separated, to leave me facing large stretches of water on my own. Wading through the water was risky and I didn't like doing it, but occasionally it was unavoidable. Under the calm surface of the water there were dozens of hidden obstacles; fallen branches, slimy rocks, aquatic grasses that tangled around my feet and animals that would like to snack on my flesh.

As I had suspected though, it made following the others incredibly easy. More often than not, I could see them a few hundred metres ahead of me, but when I couldn't see them all I had to do was follow the path of disturbed water plants and trampled patches of reeds. I couldn't help checking over my shoulder to make sure that no one was following me.

After a couple of minutes the group stopped. I slowed down and crept up on them. I wanted to know who they were and try to assess the threat that they posed. They weren't being very careful, it was a bad idea to stop so soon after they had left the Cornucopia. It didn't take long to find out why they did.

"What's wrong with you?" the boy from District Nine snapped at the boy from Eleven, who was sitting in the mud, cradling his foot.

Eleven looked up at Nine and I could see the annoyance on his face, "I have a bad leg. Do you have a problem with that?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I do." The boy from Nine yelled and loomed up over the crippled boy, "There's a group of Career's back there that are about to start hunting us down and you are holding us back."

The final member of their trio was the girl from Nine but she was having none of their argument. She hid in the shade of a tree that was stripped of all its leaves and watched as the argument turned into a fight. It was shocking how quickly things got physical and soon the boy from Nine was on top of the boy from Eleven. The girl from Nine still did nothing but watch.

If this were anywhere else, I would have stepped in to break it up but a part of me wanted to let this play out. If one of them died then that was one less tribute that I would have to face off against. I was disgusted by my own indifference but with a deep breath I stepped back from the scene. This was their fight, not mine.

Movement caught my eye to the west. Someone was over there and they were moving scarily slow. I felt bad for them, whoever they were. But not that bad that I was going to let them keep going, unhindered. Okay, so unhindered wasn't a good word. I wasn't going to interfere with them in any way, shape or form. I just wanted to know who they were and where they were headed.

I glanced back at the trio that I had followed in the first place, only to find them staring at me. It turns out that the presence of a Career was enough to get them to put their grievances aside. The girl from Nine was half way up the tree she'd been hiding under but the two boys were both on their feet and moving towards me.

"Bad move, District Whore." The boy from Eleven crooned. It seemed that Raze's bullshit nickname for me was sticking. The boys started to move towards me.

Not good. Very, very not good.

The torpid water splashed up my legs with every hurried step I took, drops reached past my hips to soak my midriff. It was frightfully cold and made worse by the motion of the chilly air around my wet clothes. I was thankful for the winters by the ocean because this was nothing compared to the worst of them. Still, I knew that I had to find some solid ground, or better still some deep water, where I could feel less bogged down.

The shadow that I had spotted before, dashed up a tree. It must have been the girl from Seven, no one else could climb a tree that fast. I don't know why she would do that though, because the tallest trees were barely ten foot high. I didn't dwell on it too long because her survival was not my concern at this time. I got a feeling that she realised her mistake because I heard someone scream and the sound of splashing that indicated someone had fallen in the water.

I didn't need to turn around to know that I was still being followed, I could hear them. Their splashing steps were out of time with my own and resulted in a prolonged thunderous roar, like a large wave crashing along the coast. I guessed that District Seven had just fallen in the water because I knew that there were still two people following me.

A thin spit of land seemed to just appear beside me. I angled myself towards it, knowing that it was my best chance to get some distance from them. I couldn't run forever and the water was too dangerous. What I needed to do was turn my arse around and get back to the Cornucopia, where the tributes weren't going to be so hell bent on killing me. At least, I hoped they wouldn't be.

The cannon sounded but I didn't bother to pay attention to it. I couldn't risk losing my footing or any part of my concentration. Somehow, I had to find a way to start heading south again. My westward trajectory was just going to get me lost in this mess of water and trees. The cannon seemed to go on forever, blast after blast indicating the deaths that had just occurred to entertain the Capitol. After the final shot sounded the Arena fell silent.

The spit of land that I was running along was about to run out and I was still being followed. The water was so dark that I was slightly afraid to re-enter it. But I didn't have a choice. If I stopped then the two tributes following me would catch up. They didn't need weapons to beat the crap out of me and I wouldn't have time to retrieve my axes before they reached me.

I launched myself off the end of the strip of land and prayed that I didn't break my ankle when I hit the water. It was a relief to feel the water rise up my calves, without any added pain. So I kept running without even a second of hesitation. Now I was running ever so slightly towards the south. The improvement although barely noticeable, gave me the extra boost to pick up my speed a little.

That was a mistake.

My foot caught on a submerged branch and I fell forward. The sound of my fall was quickly muffled by the water that enveloped my ears. The fabric around my legs had blocked most of the feeling and it wasn't until my face was under the water that I felt the detritus that floated through the murky water. Something collided with my forehead and pushed my head back, the force and angle made my neck click.

For a second I wasn't sure what was happening, but when I opened my mouth to have it flooded with gritty water, I knew that I had to get above the surface. I planted my hands on the slimy object that had just hit me in the head and straightened my arms, effectively pushing my head out of the dirty water.

I gasped for air, despite the fact that I wasn't out of breath. It was fear that had my lungs confused. Fear that I was about to be pummelled to death by two teenagers that a week ago I'd never met. Fear was quickly replaced by anxiety when I realised that they should already have reached me and started their assault. I gingerly rolled onto my back, to find the two teenagers standing a few feet away.

They were close to motionless and just staring at me. Their eyes wide with shock and their chests rose and fell erratically. They were scared, as scared as I had been a few moments before. This was worse than them chasing me.

A loud rasping hiss, like nothing I'd ever heard before, sounded to my left and my heart skipped a beat. My breaths were short and ragged as I turned my head to the south. The sight made me want to cry.

There was a moss coated crocodile staring me down from a submerged sandbank and its lethal teeth were only a foot from my face. The animal itself was at least ten foot long, with jaws that was definitely big enough to crush my head. This was even worse than I thought but at least my death would be of some purpose; in feeding this croc, that is.


	12. Safety

I was motionless; frozen by fear. I'd never seen a crocodile in the flesh before, and I had never dreamt that I would see one up this close. I had heard stories from fishermen of crocs being spotted a few kilometers from the coast but they had never come into the town.

Dad had told me about them. Old males could grow to more than 20 feet and had been known to sink small fishing boats and attack the fishermen inside. Dad had always said that there was nothing brave about attacking a crocodile, but there was a hell of a lot that was stupid about it.

I was face to face with a ten foot croc and there was no way that I was going to be moving towards it any time soon. Although, I knew that wasn't going to mean the croc wouldn't attack me. If they were anything like the predators from other Games then it would only attack me if I ran away, but I had a sinking feeling that I wasn't that lucky. There was something in the way it was watching me that told me it knew I was here and that I was edible.

District Nine laughed, "Let's get out of here. Leave the District Whore to the alligator."

"One less Career to worry about." District Eleven jeered as he slowly hobbled backwards.

The croc swung its massive mouth towards the boys. With its jaws held wide open, it made a barking grunt followed by one long hissing growl that sounded like a large, thick piece of fabric being torn. It snapped its jaws together and all I could think about was how much I didn't want any part of my body between them when they did that again.

The boys understood a threat when they saw one and they turned tail and ran. I took advantage of the momentary distraction that their movement caused and, in a move that I knew I'd regret if it went wrong, I launched myself at the croc's head.

Why? Because my father's voice came to me, as if telling me to do it.

'They have a tremendous bite but that's all the muscles in their jaws are good for. If you have no other choice, you can always hold their mouths closed. Even a child could do it.'

By some miracle, I was able to catch it around the nose before it could react to my movement. Sure enough, I had arm wrestled twelve year olds that put up more of a fight then this croc's jaw. Unfortunately, the rest of the animal wasn't as weak and it started to thrash about. I wrapped my arms around its head and dug my knees in behind its forelegs.

I was protected from its teeth but not from its powerful movements. It threw its body from side to side, trying desperately to dislodge me from its back. My hands slipped on its wet leathery skin but I maintained my grip to keep its mouth shut, which was my one chance of getting out of this with all my limbs intact.

As it flailed it moved along the sandbank, I prayed that it didn't go into the water because I knew about their death rolls. I noticed that we were inching closer to a blackened willow tree and there was little I could do to stop it. The croc couldn't see through my arms, as they were pinned over its eyes, but I still cursed the croc when it jammed my leg between its muscular torso and the unyielding bough of the tree.

I knew I couldn't stay on the croc so I struggled against it to get my feet on its back. We were both covered in mud and murky water dripped from us like we were tangible storm clouds. I placed my right foot between my hands and then made a mad dash to get up the tree. It wouldn't save me from a tribute but I figured it would work against the croc.

It did. The croc couldn't reach all the way up the tree and I was easily able to keep away from its dangerous teeth. From where I stood I could see the two tributes running away still and decided that a little deception might help. I started to scream, pretending that I was still in the croc's grasp and begging for someone to help. They didn't even glance over their shoulders as I bellowed.

Anger took hold. If I had to kill them then I wasn't going to hesitate. They cared nothing for me so I wasn't going to go the extra mile for them.

Then again, that was the Game. Destroy the competition. Save yourself. Don't concern yourself with anything else. It was generally considered that any kills made in the Games were forgivable. Almost as if civilization did not exist within the Arena and as such your actions did not need to withstand civilized judgment.

The croc stopped trying to bite me and turned to the water. It slid smoothly and almost silently into the water, the spiny scales on its back broke through the surface and I watched it coast away. I didn't want to get down right away; I was still suffering from a little shock about what had just happened. Instead I stared after the beast, both awed and thankful.

I almost fell out of the tree when the cannon sounded once.

That was when I realized that I had to get back to the Cornucopia. I needed the protection of numbers against the other tributes, and I didn't want them thinking that I had abandoned them. I didn't need the other Careers out for my blood, at least not at the moment.

I lowered myself gently from the branches, my feet sunk into the waterlogged sandbank and I cringed as the frigid water soaked through my shoe to sting my toes. The ground was like super glue and it took all my strength to get my feet out of its icy hold. I knew that if I moved quickly then my feet didn't have a chance to sink too deep. Still, I couldn't move much faster than a jog and I was losing energy faster than I had for any jog before.

The appearance of a wide, exposed sandbar had me smiling from ear to ear. It wasn't as safe as being back with the Careers but it was an improvement on being trapped by the earth. The exposed land, while still wet, was hard enough to not suck me in and it took less energy to move across it. I had a feeling that if all went to plan then I would be back at the Cornucopia by sun down.

Sure enough, the sky had only just started to turn orange when the golden treasure trove came back into view. I couldn't see any of the other Careers but I figured they were inside the Cornucopia, away from the elements. If they weren't then I was in a lot of trouble, I couldn't possibly know where to start looking if they'd moved the 'home base' somewhere else.

I took a deep breath, "Hello! Anyone home!" It was best to know who was around before I got too far from the relative safety of wetlands.

There was a moment of silence before a head poked around the side of the Cornucopia. It disappeared back behind the golden framework and I could just make out the sound of someone moving hurriedly within its depths. I stood still and waited until I knew who was there, as I hadn't recognized what little of the head I had seen.

A second later someone burst out of the mouth of the Cornucopia and rushed towards me. I took a step back because I was unsure of who it was. But it didn't take long for me to figure it out. I could tell by how he ran.

Calder embraced me with such force that I almost fell over. It was a weird feeling, considering everything we'd been through and where we were. This sort of affection was uncalled for and inappropriate. I pushed him away.

"I was worried about you." he mumbled as he looked me over.

I was annoyed by his concern, "You knew what I was doing."

"But I heard the cannon and..." he trailed off with a meek smile and I didn't need him to say the rest.

It was more the look in his eyes than his fragile smile; it was the one he'd worn almost every time we'd argued after my father's death. The one that told me, his feelings for me hadn't changed in the last few months. That look scared me more than being face to face with the crocodile.

"Where have you been?" Raze barked from a few meters behind Cal. He was smeared with mud and laden with more weapons than he could ever possibly need. He was even more of a poser than I'd thought he was.

"Scouting." I said simply.

Raze scoffed, "What the fuck for? We could have killed more tributes if you'd stayed and fought."

"Correction, there would have been less tributes for you to add to your name. And now, thanks to me, we know where another alliance is and have a starting point."

"We don't need you knowing that." the District One female snapped.

"Really?" Yolanna snarled, "And where would you start looking?"

"It doesn't matter. There are tributes all over the place; we just need to track them down." The girl continued with an air of superiority.

"And where would you start?" Cal repeated.

The girl flicked her hair out of her face, "I'd start wherever the first track starts. You District Four tributes are so up yourselves. You're not the only ones who can win these Games."

"Okay, fighting isn't going to get us anywhere." I grumble, sick of this girl's voice already, "There is a three person alliance to the north, both 9s, and M11. F7 is also in that general direction. Oh and there's at least one ten foot crocodile to contend with too."

"Crocodile?" Yolanna whimpered and stepped away from the wetlands, although she was already well enough away that she wasn't in any real danger.

"So what? I've already got a crocodile leather bag, I don't care how many are out there." this girl was really getting on my nerves.

Apparently I wasn't the only one annoyed because Raze growled before anyone else had a chance to reply, "Because crocodiles are lethal, and they won't be afraid of us."

"I think we all need to sit down and relax. We'll have to work as a team tomorrow if we hope to find any of the others. Maybe some food would be in order." Cal said in his usual calm and soothing tone.

Before long we had a fire roaring and were waiting, with full bellies, for the deceased tributes faces to light up the sky. There was one cannon fire that they couldn't place and everyone was anxious to see who it was for. To my dismay I was sitting with Cal as we waited.

It wasn't that I didn't like Cal, the thought of that was almost laughable. It was entirely the opposite; I had always liked Cal and still did. I still loved the boy and it killed me to think that he might have only weeks left, maybe less. And his presence wasn't easy. It just reminded me of everything that we'd had and how much it had hurt to give it up. I couldn't help thinking that it could come down to just us and if that happened I didn't want my affections for him to be any stronger than they already were.

I had thought that I was close to over him. It pained me to think that when I had been around Cato, I had just about forgotten about Cal. When I thought about the two of them, compared them, it was hard to choose between them. Not that there was really a choice; if I made it out of here then my only option was Cato, if I didn't make it out then it didn't really matter either way.

Sitting here I couldn't help thinking about Cato and how he would feel seeing this. No doubt my brothers had told him who Cal was and I prayed that they hadn't let Maya watch anything. She would be distraught over the idea of us in here together.

"So... what's his name?" Cal whispered as he scooted a little closer.

"Whose name?"

Cal smiled at me, "The guy that you're thinking about."

I had hoped he hadn't noticed and I felt that I had a sort of duty to lie to him, as strange as that sounds, "Eitan."

"Oh." Cal sighed and looked up as the national anthem started to play.

We watched silently as the faces of the fallen shone just below the clouds. Both of the District Three tributes were gone, as were both from District Six. Districts Five, Seven and Eight had lost their male tributes. And the girl from District Eleven was the last face shown. These were the tributes that had died at the Cornucopia, the ones that risked it all for the benefits of weapons and food.

There was one other face, one that surprised me and earned me a dirty look from the District One girl. Her name was Molly and she was from District Nine. I don't know how it happened but she was dead. Maybe a croc had gotten her, or maybe it wasn't F7 who I'd heard scream earlier.

There was silence around the Arena once the anthem stopped playing and no one dared to say anything. We had all been training for this for years but now that we were in the middle of it, it felt foreign. In years passed I had tried to imagine what this would feel like but nothing I had ever come up with was even close to how I was feeling now.

After a few minutes the District One tributes were whispering between themselves so I decided that I wouldn't be disturbing anyone should I talk as well. So I turned to Cal but at the last second I decided against it.

I felt like I was fourteen years old again and had just realized that I had a crush on Cal. It had been so awkward to begin with because Cal had been a friend of Eitan's. That had made Cal feel a little 'forbidden' and it only succeeded in making him all the more enticing. I had been so nervous, as it was the first time that I'd liked someone that I wasn't sure if they liked me back. I smiled at the memory of being giggly and blushing madly as we sat by the bonfire and watched the smoke billow into the midnight sky. It was a friend's birthday celebration, and the first time Cal had kissed me.

"I thought you said F9 was in an alliance." Raze yelled across the fire.

"She must have been the one that last cannon was for. I was on my own at that point." I yelled back. Over the fire I saw Raze roll his eyes and I had to turn away from him, otherwise I might have jumped the fire to bash his head in. I smiled at Cal, "How many of those tributes were yours?"

"Just the guy from Seven. There weren't a lot of tributes that went for the Cornucopia this year." Cal grinned and leant back on his elbows.

I wasn't enjoying this. I'd thought that I would always like being around Cal but the Games were turning my emotions on their head. I took a deep breath and looked out at the wetlands, "Thank-you for saving me."

"It was my pleasure." Cal said and I could hear the playful smirk that spread across his face.


	13. Choices

_**CATO'S POV**_

The sound of yelling woke me in the morning. Yesterday had been the first day of the 73rd Hunger Games and I'd fallen asleep late last night on the Neilsson's couch. It hadn't been an easy day for me. First there was the attack by Jesper from District Seven, to which I had to thank Calder for saving her. Then there was the incident with the crocodile which had me screaming at the television as if she would hear me if I yelled loud enough.

But the worst part, by far, was watching the Careers as the Gamemakers shone the fallen tributes in the sky. It was the worst because not only did it remind me that I now owed a certain District Four tribute for saving Alfie but because Alfie and said tribute sat annoyingly close together as they watched it. I hated seeing them sitting so close. It was so obvious to me that Calder Van Dillon was still in love with Alfie and part of me was worried that she would fall for him again.

We hadn't really been dating but I had felt something that I'd never felt before and didn't want to feel for anyone else. I was certain that I was in love with Alfie and until these Games had started I was sure that she felt the same for me; or at least close to the same. But watching her interact with Calder, I realised that their relationship was entirely different from ours. I wasn't sure if it was a good or bad difference but I couldn't not notice the difference. I just hoped that the awkwardness was because Alfie didn't want to be around him and not because she still wanted to be with him.

I realised that people were still arguing in the kitchen and hoped that my presence might stop them. When I stopped in the doorway, I found Eitan, Aloki and Maya standing in the middle of the kitchen. It was clearly a painful argument because Eitan and Aloki looked unbelievably uncomfortable and Maya had tear tracks streaming down her face. They had been arguing ever since Maya realised that Calder was in the Games and it seemed that the argument hadn't changed at all since then.

"I deserve to know what's happening. I don't want you having to come into my room and give me _that_ look." Maya said as she wiped her face with the back of her hand.

She was referring to when she'd found out about her father's death, she'd brought it up more times than I could count. Personally, I felt she had a point. Whether she was watching or not, wouldn't change the outcome. And if Alfie were to die, which I obviously hoped she wouldn't, then maybe witnessing it would help Maya to accept it. I didn't know; I was just glad that I wasn't Eitan or Aloki.

Eitan shook his head, "You promised Alfie that you wouldn't."

"Alfie's not here and I never actually promised her anything." Maya snapped.

Aloki reached out to his baby sister, "How do you think Alfie's going to feel when she finds out that you ignored her request?"

"She doesn't need to know. We can just say that I watched all the replays."

The two brothers were dead against Maya watching the Games. They were afraid that she wouldn't be able to cope with witnessing the horrors of the Games in general, let alone watching her sister murder or potentially be murdered. There were lots of twelve year olds that weren't allowed to watch the Games, most often those that were allowed were training to be Career's. Most people didn't want to watch the Games, as they were just a reminder that we were all powerless to the Capitol. Still, I felt like I understood Maya's determination, with everyone else in the family able to watch the Games, it must be isolating to be left out.

Aloki noticed me and his face brightened, "What do you think, Cato? Should Maya be allowed to watch the Games?"

I had supported the brothers since day one but I was starting to think that that wasn't going to work. Maya was more persistent than I had expected, she was a lot like Alfie in that sense; it was just about the only thing they shared. If I'd moved to District Four and walked past Maya and Alfie in the street, I would never have thought they were sisters.

Maya was petite with thick curly black hair. Her skin was pale and delicate, as she had had the most sheltered life of all her siblings. Maya's features were as gentle as her loving character and her hazel eyes just seemed to emphasis her sweet as honey nature. Everything about Maya was girly and cute, she reminded me of a porcelain doll.

In comparison, her sister was hard and aggressive. Alfie was tall and muscular, although not so much as to be butch. She had butterscotch hair that flowed to her shoulders in waves and occasionally formed loose ringlets. Her oval face and average features were beautiful but somehow plain, and they made her look hostile. Considering what she'd been trained for all her life and where she was, it wasn't surprising and was almost certainly helpful.

Alfie and Maya were polar opposites but it didn't stop them from loving one another. In fact, they got on better than I did with my brothers, and we were all fairly alike.

"It depends on what means more to you." I said to Maya, "Doing what your sister asked or getting your own way."

Maya seemed unfazed and her response surprised me, "Getting my own way. I'm generally not a selfish person and I think that it's about time that I got to put myself before everyone else's happiness." Maya didn't wait for her brothers to reply, instead she turned on her heels and waltzed from the kitchen, towards the living room and the television.

"Sorry." I sighed.

Eitan turned back to the fridge and Aloki walked towards me. He reached out an arm and draped it over my shoulders, "It's okay. I think it's a Neilsson women thing, I'm pretty sure Alfie would have said the same thing. You'll have to remember that if you want to keep your sanity when you and Alfie are dating properly."

We re-entered the living room and found Pierce sitting with Maya and explaining what had happened since last night when Eitan told her about the results of the bloodbath. It was strange seeing Pierce interacting with any of the Neilssons, seeing how one of the first things he'd said to them was an out and out threat to the most vulnerable member of the family. Alfie had then threatened Pierce and I would never have thought that we'd get here, ever.

Aloki sat on one of the piles of cushions that had been set up almost directly in front of the television. They didn't have enough seats for all the people that were normally gathered around so there were two cushion heaps to seat those that missed out on a couch seat. Aloki preferred the cushions because of their proximity to the television, and I did too.

We might not physically be any closer to Alfie, we are still unable to help her or talk to her, but being closer to the television made me feel somewhat better. Somehow I felt closer to Alfie, like the closer I was to the television the more support I was giving her. And the sooner I would see what was happening in the Arena, although I knew that wasn't actually the case.

So I took the other pile of cushions and got comfortable.

Nothing really seemed to be happening in the Arena at the moment. The footage kept jumping from tribute to tribute, most of them seemed to be wandering aimlessly but a few were still asleep. A map in the bottom right corner of the screen showed where the different tributes were and was colour coded for the different individuals and the alliances that had formed. There were no rival alliances close together and so nothing was really worth focusing on.

The cameras had only just focused on the limping male from District Eleven, when it suddenly jumped to the Cornucopia. There weren't a lot of good vantage points at the Cornucopia, as it was a flat field that allowed all tributes a fair start to the Games. Most of the cameras were located on the actual Cornucopia itself. A few others were set in rocks, the ground and each of the starting blocks. The cameras they were using now were focused on the mouth of the Cornucopia, where the Career tributes were gathered and fiddling with their weapons.

"So, are we all ready?" Taffeit said with a broad smile as he polished the point of a spear.

Calder and Alfie rolled their eyes.

Yolanna spoke up, "No. And we won't be ready until we have a plan."

Alfie was organising the throwing daggers in her belt and would occasionally adjust the back of her thigh length jacket. Raze and the two District One tributes didn't know about Alfie's skill with throwing axes and no one had brought up the fact that they hadn't found any. I wasn't sure if she'd organised it with the District Four tributes but they seemed to automatically know not to bring up Alfie's supposedly greatest talent. I still hadn't seen her use a throwing axe and was curious to know if they had just been exaggerating her prowess.

"Well, what would you suggest as a plan?" Chenille snapped, her bow and arrows were all sitting neatly on her shoulder as they waited to head out.

"Someone should stay here, in case there are tributes waiting for us to leave so they can steal some supplies." Calder suggested. He was annoyingly tall and handsome, with dark hair and bright eyes. The sword on his hip and trident on his back made him look even more like a soldier, I was sure that girls all across Panem were imagining him as their knight in shining armour.

"We're going." the two District Ones barked, desperate to get out there and start slaughtering more tributes.

"We'll stay." Yolanna offered and I could tell that Calder wasn't happy about being volunteered for such a dull position.

Alfie finally said something, "Should we split up or go as a large group?"

The tributes that weren't born in District Four all looked at one another. In a brilliant display of District exclusivity, the two District One tributes stepped closer together and said in unison, "Split up."

After a silent moment, that included a hard stare from Raze, Taffeit tried to explain, "We can cover more ground that way."

"Whatever. We'll go North East, you go North West." Raze grumbled as he started moving away from the Cornucopia.

There was one camera that was directly behind Alfie and Calder and its footage now dominated the screen. Calder sighed and put an arm around Alfie's shoulder, he pulled her into his side and she moved without hesitation. I hated seeing her so close to him, I'd never been a jealous sort of person before but Calder brought it out of me. He leant his head down and his lips came uncomfortably close to Alfie's ear.

"You watch yourself out there. I don't trust that guy; so try to keep him in front of you at all times." he whispered.

Alfie shook her head, "I know how to watch my own back. I've been living in Two for months."

Calder laughed as Alfie walked off, following Raze towards the wetlands. Alfie's walk was strange. She was confident and determined but it was an act. I could see the shadow of awkwardness that made her steps that little bit shaky. I'd never seen her shaky before and it was a bizarre sight, I don't think I could ever get used to seeing that. But she trudged after Raze in a fashion that would not have been noticed by any of the others, except maybe Calder.

When the two pairs of tributes reached the wetlands the screen divided down the middle. One side was following the District One tributes and the other was following Raze and Alfie. On each of the bottom corners was a map of the area and the location of the two scouting groups were flashing red. On the District One side of the screen the map showed a blue dot to the North West, while on Alfie's side it showed a yellow arrow that pointed off the map towards the North. There were two tributes in the area and the Gamemakers were hoping that one of the pairs would stumble across the other tributes.

I hoped that it was the District One tributes that found their target. The idea of Alfie actually having to fight someone... I didn't like that idea. My greatest hope at the moment was that Alfie would be able to leave the games without making a single kill. It was possible. A few years ago it had gotten down to the final three and the Victor hadn't been involved in the death of the other two. The other two found one another and although one died, the other was severely injured, to the point where he ended up bleeding to death before he found the final tribute. If Alfie could make it to the final three without making a kill then she could win without making one. It was possible, but not likely.

They walked for ages. To begin with we all watched in silence and were concentrating on both sides of the screen, hoping that District One would be seeing action and not District Two. After a few minutes of trudging through the wetlands, we started to relax and joke about the chances of District One finding their target. The really sad bit was that we had, for the most part, been right; after a while there was a little blue arrow pointing south. They had walked right past Oliveen from Seven, who was hiding in a tree; and I use the term 'hiding' very liberally as the tree she was in barely had any leaves.

Unlike the District One tributes, Raze and Alfie were able to find a trail to follow. The second they announced their location of a trail, District One was pushed off the screen and two other tributes replaced them. Lin and Justin, from Nine and Eleven respectively, they were armed with thick branches and trudging south. The two pairs were on a collision course with one another and it scared me.

So now, we were silent again. Staring at the television and moving in our seats as if a different angle would change what we were seeing.

Lin and Justin saw Alfie and Raze first and they froze at the sight of the two Careers. Careers were like wolves, while non-Careers were like bison. At the beginning of the Games, when the Careers were grouped together, you could just about be guaranteed of a Career win. While one on one the odds generally lay with the Career, it was not uncommon for one to lose to a non-Career.

When Alfie and Raze noticed their targets the mood changed dramatically. Careers were trained to be predators and when a predator finds its prey there was always a change in atmosphere. Brutus, District Two's head mentor, always said it was adrenalin that caused the change. Careers used adrenalin to pump themselves up to fight; non-Careers used it to defend themselves.

Not a word was exchanged before Lin turned and ran. Alfie took off after him and again the screen split in two. In the face of likely death, people's true colours always seemed to come to the surface. Lin, with his uninjured limbs, was going to try to save himself, with no regard for Justin and his bad foot. I didn't like Lin but I couldn't blame him, being faced with two armed teenagers must be terrifying.

I was surprised at the fight that Justin put up. Even his injury, which Claudius Templesmith believed to be a severe sprain, didn't seem to slow him down much. Brutus said adrenalin could override the pain someone felt and make them do things they otherwise couldn't have dreamt of. Justin was able to hold Raze off for an exceptionally long time but eventually Alfie had my one hundred percent full attention.

Lin finally stopped running and Alfie pulled up a few feet behind him. Lin beamed at Alfie, "I'm impressed that you survived the alligator."

Alfie shook her head, "It was a crocodile."

"What's the difference? On second thoughts, I don't care. You followed me with no weapons, are you stupid?" Lin said as if he'd lost his thought filter.

Alfie smiled at him and swooped her hands under the edges of her jacket. Resting her hands on her hips and standing akimbo, her jacket opened to reveal the half dozen throwing knives that she had tucked into her belt. There was something very aggressive about her stance and I was glad that I wasn't Lin.

For some sadistic reason, Lin smiled, "You think a little knife is really going to help you? This," he wiggled the branch that he held, "could reach you from here. Those knives aren't going to save you."

Alfie shrugged, "I'll agree with you there. I won't kill you with these knives."

Lin laughed and Alfie pulled her hands away from her hips. In her right hand she held a throwing axe and the sight of it made Lin laugh louder. He drew back his arm and swung. Alfie didn't move fast enough and the end of the branch hit her cheek with a sickening smack.

She pulled her left hand up to cup her left cheek and when she pulled it away there was scarlet blood smeared across her cheek and all over her hand. She moved something around in her mouth and then spat. Her spit was pink with the mix of saliva and blood. He'd done more damage than even he realised he could do, the shock was evident on his face.

But it was only momentary shock. After he registered that the branch could truly save his life, he smiled. Which was not a recommended move when you're in the Game, smiling at such times was very disrespectful and was often a sign that they, the smiler, weren't going to win.

The next few moments went by incredibly fast.

Lin raised his arm to strike at Alfie but before he'd even reached the apex of his swing, he seemed to freeze. The throwing axe looked to be glued to his forehead, the blade pressed into his skin and his blood welled around the cold metal. It wasn't glued to his head; it was lodged in his skull. A thin trail of blood started running down his nose as his hand released the stick.

Lin crumpled like a ragdoll as the cannon sounded.


	14. Painful Memories

The cannon fire was like the growl of the crocodile. I froze at the sound and my heart started to race, so fast that I thought it might break my ribs. My lungs were stiff and breathing was painful. I could barely comprehend what had just happened.

I had killed a boy.

I had taken a life without a second of hesitation.

I was a murderer.

The worst bit was that I didn't feel bad. I didn't feel anything. He had been going to hit me again so I killed him. I hadn't care that such an act should get me a life sentence in the real world. I hadn't cared about anything really, except getting the axe to stick in his forehead. In the face of death, or at least pain, I had committed a crime to save myself. I was most upset about the fact that I would do it again, in a heartbeat.

My legs felt like rubber as I moved towards the fallen tribute. I had to get my axe back before the Capitol claimed the body and my weapon. I had never been so nervous before. I felt like vomiting but knew that I had to maintain my composure. If I ever hoped for sponsor support, they couldn't think that I couldn't handle death.

As I knelt down beside the body and reached for the handle of the axe, I couldn't help but imagine that it was me that had just died; that I was lying in the murky wetlands water with a weapon protruding from my body. Would my murderer be kind enough to just take their weapons and leave? Or would they be like that tribute, years ago, who decided it wasn't enough to kill but they also had to eat their victim? Would my killer laugh over my demise or show my lifeless body the respect it deserved?

I couldn't change what my killer would do to me but I knew what I was going to do. I pulled the axe from the tributes body and washed the blade in the brown water. My main concern was making sure that Raze didn't know I had these and I prayed that he wouldn't show up as I stowed the axe in my belt.

After hiding the axe I checked over my shoulder to find that I was still alone. So I pulled out one of the throwing knives and pressed the flat side of the blade to the tributes head wound. Once I thought the blade was sufficiently bloody, I turned around and headed back to where I'd last seen Raze. I wasn't sure whether it was necessary to go to as much effort as I was but I figured it was best to be thorough.

As I walked away, I slowly started work on cleaning the knife, as a hovercraft came into view above my head.

The cannon sounded again just as Raze came into view, he was proudly standing over a huddled mass and trying to dislodge the spear that had skewered the poor tribute. I hadn't finished cleaning the knife, so at the sight of Raze's 'victory', I bent forward and cleaned it properly in the water. Anything to convince him this was the weapon that killed the boy from District Nine.

Raze's laugh made me look up, "Apparently you're a better shot than I gave you credit for."

I didn't laugh. I didn't find any of this funny. Maybe I had been training for the Arena for my whole life but there was a difference between training and then actually doing; and unlike Raze, I didn't like the 'actual' part. This was something that I had only recently considered, the idea that I couldn't kill in the Games. Well, clearly I could but I didn't like it. In killing District Nine I felt like I had betrayed some part of me. I could see my actions haunting me for the rest of my life, if I ever got out of here and had a life to continue living.

"Can we head back now?"

Raze noticed my tone, "What? Do you have a problem with dead bodies?"

I didn't say anything. I knew that my silence would probably only confirm it, in Raze's mind, but I didn't care. The only thing that I could think of was getting away from this psychopath. It pained me to think but all I wanted was to be back with Cal, in the safety of his presence. It pained me because I felt like I was being unfaithful to Cato.

Which was weird because I wasn't entirely sure if there was anything official between me and Cato. We had kissed the last time we saw each other but neither of us had actually said anything about being 'together'. For reasons that I didn't quite understand, I really liked Cato. Almost as much as I liked Cal which, considering that I'd only known him for a couple of months was exceptional. It had taken a year for me to realise that I liked Cal even half as much as I already like Cato.

Why does this all have to be so confusing?

I blamed it on Raze not letting Mineek volunteer. I blamed it on the Games. If it weren't for those two things then I wouldn't be back in the presence of someone that I would always love but never be able to be with.

I hated my life at the moment.

Raze turned away from his victim and I moved to follow him. I wasn't thinking straight and walked a little too close to the body. It caught my attention and I felt like I was going to be sick.

The boy from District Eleven looked almost like he was asleep, apart from the series of gashes and the giant hole in his chest. His body was submerged in the murky water and it gave him a strange orange-brown tint.

In the blink of an eye he disappeared.

To be replaced by a man that was almost thirty years older than him. He had scruffy black hair and bright ocean blue eyes that seemed to shine through the murk of the wetlands. His skin was weathered and pale in his death, darkened only around his jaw where he had stubble that was a few days old. He opened his mouth to speak to me but only bubbles came out.

I stumbled away from my father and tripped over something in the water. A few feet away I could hear Raze laughing. As I got back to my feet I glanced at the body, it was the boy again and I sighed in relief. I had been here two days and already I was seeing things, it was not a good sign.

As Cal had recommended, I stayed behind Raze all the way back to the Cornucopia. I could see the obvious relief on Cal's face when he saw that I was alive. I couldn't be as happy as he was and I instantaneously excused myself, claiming I needed to wash off my clothes before they started to rot. They were still dirty with mud and grim from yesterdays wrestling match with the crocodile, as there was nowhere nearby that had fresh water to wash with.

We had assumed that there was a lake to the west because we could just see a waterfall amongst the cliff faces. It was barely midday so I knew I'd have plenty of time to go check out the waterfall and get back before it got dark. No one tried to stop me so I didn't hesitate.

It took even less time than I thought it would to get to the waterfall. The expanse of flat field was deceptive and the mountain itself was closer than it looked, and even smaller. There was a lake at the bottom and it was larger than I had thought it would be. The water in the lake was crystal clear, which was surprising considering that it connected to the wetlands. But there was a small waterfall between the two which seemed to divide the slow moving water of the lake from the stagnant water of the wetlands. It had to be the work of the Gamemakers because I had never heard of such a relationship between lakes and wetlands.

I was cautious around the water. There was no knowing what sort of creepy crawlies were in there. There could be more crocodiles or even large predatory fish. The Gamemakers could not be trusted and I wouldn't put it past them to entice tributes with clean looking water only to have it chock full of killer creatures.

I removed my shoes, pants and shirt. I wanted to inspect the aches that plagued my body as I hadn't been able to do that yesterday. My left calf was horridly discoloured, marred with a gruesome yellow and purple bruise that reached from ankle to knee on the outside of my leg. I had bruises and scratches everywhere else but my calf was the worst. I was surprised that I could still walk on it considering how dark and painful it looked.

It didn't take long to wash the mud from my khaki uniform and once I was done I sat in the shallows as the clothes dried on some rocks behind me. The water was cool and refreshing and I sat in silence, staring out along its glossy surface as the sun started to sink towards the western horizon.

"What happened to your cheek?"

I ran my hand down my face as if trying to wipe away my annoyance at being disturbed and felt the sharp pain that was the left side of my face. My cheek smarted and a sharp sting told me that there was a deep split in the skin. My teeth and even the bone of my jaw ached, I hadn't realised that District Nine had done that much damage. I guessed it was like my calf, a bad looking injury that I hadn't noticed was that bad.

"District Nine." I mumbled and dropped my hand from my face.

Cal walked up beside me and sat in the water with his clothes on. Unlike me, he had managed to keep his clothes fairly clean. He hadn't been into the wetlands yet and so the only things on his clothes were sweat and a little blood. In a familiar display of concern he removed his shirt and turned my head so that I was looking at him.

He smiled at me and raised his bunched up shirt towards my cheek, "We don't want it getting infected."

"Don't." I sighed as I pulled away from him.

It was bad enough that we were both in the Games but his determination to interact with me was making it hard. Soon enough he would start talking about our past relationship and our break up, and I didn't think that I could handle that conversation. Cal liked talking things through and that was partly why we'd broken up. He always wanted to know why and he wanted to know straight away. I found that hard because I often didn't have answers straight away.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the hurt that spread across his face and I hated the thought that I was hurting him. Again.

Cal took a deep breath, "I'm just trying to help."

I shook my head, "I don't want help."

"Even if you need it?"

I went to rub my face again but thought better of it. Last night I had had a lapse of judgement in letting myself get too close to Cal again, and it seemed that he had assumed that I was interested in being around him. His presence hurt but how did I tell him that without upsetting him. I don't think I could handle hurting him again, knowing that someday soon at least one of us was going to die.

"Especially if I need it." I sighed and had to look to my right so that I couldn't see Cal at all.

Cal laughed a soft laugh and in my mind's eye I could see him shaking his head, "No one would think less of you for accepting some assistance."

I sighed, yet again, "It's not about that. You can't help me."

There was a short pause before Cal asked, "What happened out there?"

The concern in Cal's voice was so sincere that my heart felt like it was about to melt. There had never been any doubt in my mind that Cal loved me, although I had never entirely understood why. He was such a sweet guy and I... well, I wasn't sweet. We were so different that sometimes it had felt like it was only a matter of time before one of us found someone more suitable.

"I killed a guy. He hit me with a stick so I killed him."

It was Cal's turn to sigh, "You didn't have a choice."

"No one here does." I snapped; it wasn't that I was angry with him, it was more that I was angry with myself for spilling my guts to the guy that not moments before I had wanted distance from, "And that's going to be me soon. Facing down my killer and praying that they aren't going to succeed."

Again Cal laughed and I turned to glare at him. He smiled broadly at me, "You got an eleven. According to the Gamemakers, you're the least likely to die. Why do you doubt them?"

"Because it's the Hunger Games and skill only gets you so far. It's luck that gets the victory."

"Well, I'd still bet on you. I think everyone else has used up their quota of luck for one lifetime. It's about time that your family got a little bit." I furrowed my brow and looked at Cal with the most quizzical expression that I could muster. He continued, "You lost your mother at twelve, your father at sixteen and now, at barely seventeen, you're in the Hunger Games. You deserve some luck and I'm sure that it's coming."

I rubbed my nose carefully, trying not to touch my cheek, "What about you? You never knew your mother and your brother died in the Games when you were six. Don't you deserve some luck?"

"I've had more than my fair share of luck over the last few years." he smiled at me but I just stared back. He shook his head as he started to explain, "When I was ten, I met my best friend. He and his family welcomed me with open arms, almost as if I was one of them. Through him, I met the most amazing young woman. She was... sorry, she is brilliant and I was lucky enough for her to actually notice me. I was then really lucky that her brother, my best friend, didn't beat the shit out of me for... umm... how do I put it? 'Defiling' his sister."

The use of the word defiling was enough to pull me out of my dark thoughts, "Eww! Don't put it like that. That's just gross." I smiled at him, "Anyway, you were the innocent one out of the two of us. Sixteen years old and never had a serious girlfriend, it was really kind of sad."

"Hey... you know it was hard getting girls to notice me when I was standing next to your brother. Sometimes I think the only reason you noticed me was because well... he was your brother."

We were getting way to close to the topic that I'd wanted to avoid. But the conversation seemed to have the sort of momentum that wouldn't let me stop the topic from starting. If things kept going this way then we'd be there in about three sentences and if I tried to skip it then we'd probably get there even quicker. I hated the Games for putting me in this situation.

I decided to give in to the inevitable, "You don't give yourself enough credit. You're a great guy, any girl would be lucky to have you hold their hand. God knows I was."

"As I said before, I'm the one who was lucky. The only thing that I have going for me is that I'm above average looking. You are smart, funny, interesting and pretty."

I had never liked it when Cal made me sound so much better than I was. We'd always had very different opinions on each other's merits. I watched Cal with an exasperated expression, "I'm also bitter, opinionated and unaffectionate. How you tolerated me is beyond me."

The way Cal looked at me, made me want to swim out to the middle of the lake and float face down for the next hour; or until my cannon sounded. I could see the affection in his eyes, that glow that signified he still loved me. And I hated it. I wanted him to hate me for breaking up with him but I was clearly not lucky enough for that. Maybe he was right and I was due for some luck.

"I'll give you opinionated, but not bitter and unaffectionate. You just need to know how to interpret your actions. You were never one for public displays of emotion, none of your family are. That's not the same as unaffectionate." He tried to wipe my face with his shirt again but I pushed his hand away.

"Okay, you keep telling yourself that. But I'd really appreciate it if we ended this conversation here. This isn't the time or the place." I had never realised how much a conversation like this could hurt and the thought that people could be watching it was extra disturbing.

Cal nodded, "Of course. I brought you some food. Are you hungry?"

"Very." I smiled and pushed off the soft bank of the lake.


	15. Danger

_**CATO'S POV**_

Nothing much happened for the Careers over the next few days. On Day Five, Felicity from District Twelve died but it was not because of the Careers. She'd accidentally stumbled across Oliveen from District Seven and everyone found out exactly how ruthless the fourteen year old girl was. Felicity hadn't stood a chance, as the muscular tree climbing District Seven tribute beat her around the head with the gnarled and partially rotten branch.

We'd seen Oliveen kill before, the death of the girl from Nine went to her as well. The difference was that the girl from District Eleven posed a threat to Oliveen. Molly, the District Nine tribute, was sixteen years old and very agile. Felicity was only twelve and one of the tiniest things I'd ever seen in the game.

There was a lot of debate amongst the Careers as to who had killed the young girl from Twelve, well most of the Careers. Neither Alfie nor Calder seemed to care who had killed Felicity. Alfie was just thankful that there was one less tribute that she may have to kill and Calder was just ambivalent to the whole thing.

I took a little comfort in the fact that Alfie and Calder had put some space between each other. I think it was more Alfie's choice than Calder's but I didn't care who was instigating it, as long as they stayed away from one another. Seeing them together was painful, more painful than I ever thought it would be. Especially after their heart to heart on Day Two.

The Capitol loved this new dynamic. Apparently the Capitol had been blind to Calder's obvious affections but now that it was out in the open they were lapping it up. During the particularly slow parts of the Games, when there were great distances between the different tributes and alliances, they showed montages of Alfie and Calder's interactions. With Cal all but declaring his love for Alfie, they seemed to have noticed the true meaning of his lingering stares and subtle smiles.

It made me sick to have to watch it all over and over again. It didn't help that I was now essentially living with three people who knew the details of their relationship, and it really didn't help that one of them had been infatuated with their love. Maya couldn't stop talking about all the times that Calder had done something really romantic or when Alfie had spoken about how much she loved him.

Eitan and Aloki tried to subtly ask her to stop but she didn't seem to understand them. Every time she started talking about her sister's greatest love affair, to date, I got sad looks from the rest of the people in the room. I'd eventually learnt that leaving the room was the easiest way to get away from the conversation. I didn't blame Maya for her obsession with their relationship, she loved her sister and knew that Calder had made Alfie happy; it was understandable she would focus on that at a time like this.

The Careers were heading back to the Cornucopia after another unsuccessful day trying to track down other tributes. The path back to the Cornucopia was free of other tributes so the chances of a confrontation were essentially zero. It was Day Seven and they probably only had a day or two more until the Gamemakers found a way to push some tributes together. Generally speaking a death only lasted a couple of days and then the Capitol started to get bored.

"I remember their one year anniversary. Alfie forgot but Cal remembered and he organised the most romantic picnic ever." Maya started and Pierce looked at me with an empathetic grimace.

I pushed off the couch and looked around the room, "Does anyone want something to drink?" I had to make up an excuse because I didn't want to make Maya feel uncomfortable talking about her sister.

Everyone shook their head as Maya continued, "They went down to the beach before high tide and stayed there until it reached high tide and started to subside. Alfie was drenched when she came home but she looked so happy."

I reached the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the dish rack. Even from the kitchen I could still here Maya going on about how romantic Calder was and how happy he had made Alfie. It seemed like I wasn't going to get any relief from this relationship of almost mythical perfection.

"She wasn't always that happy."

I jumped at the sound and turned around to find Eitan standing in the doorway. I sighed and smiled meekly, there was no use in him trying to sugar coat it. I knew that what me and Alfie had was nothing compared to what she'd had with Calder. He'd had years to improve their relationship, I'd barely had months.

"It's okay. I've had other girlfriends, I expected that Alfie had had boyfriends too."

Eitan shook his head, "I'm being serious. They had their fair share of problems. They were young and immature, and while they had their moments, they weren't the perfect couple Maya thinks they were."

We sat down at the little wooden table and I spun my cup around as I thought about how to phrase my thoughts, "It sounded pretty perfect a couple of days ago."

Eitan scratched his stubble and watched me silently for a few moments, "When Cal first confessed his feelings to me, I wanted to strangle him. I looked at him like a brother and brothers didn't have those sorts of thoughts and feelings for their sister." Eitan huffed a small laugh, "I threatened him with physical emasculation if he went near Alfie, and he listened to me. It was kind of funny to watch him squirm.

"That was until I found out that he had been faking it, and he and Alfie had been... together, in the biblical sense. I was furious but I knew that Cal was a good guy so I let it go. They were good together for a long time, but it didn't last."

He looked down at his hands as he mulled over his memories. I wasn't sure what he was looking for but I knew that I wasn't meant to interrupt him. Why would I want to? He was telling me things that selfishly, I wanted to hear.

"Their first big fight was over whether or not they argued enough. Not whether they argued too much but whether they argued enough. I don't know what was wrong with them but they weren't right, not together. It was weird because there was nothing wrong with their relationship and yet it started to fail.

"When dad died, it was kind of like the straw that broke the camel's back. Alfie became really short tempered and Cal just couldn't say anything right. Everyone saw it coming but it still surprised us when she broke it off with him."

I finally got up the nerve to ask the question that had plagued me for the last week, "What makes you think that she likes me? If she only just broke up with Calder then... do I really have a chance?"

Eitan laughed, "When she invited you in here, I was... again, furious. She'd just broken up with my best friend and it had really hurt him. Then she brought you here, let you into our house and around Maya. I was super pissed.

"But then she made this joke. You remember the one about the cemetery in District Four?"

I thought about it for a moment and it felt like it had happened so long ago. We'd been sitting in the living room talking about potentially lethal berries. It was a depressing lesson because there were a scary number of berries that if consumed in just the right quantity could kill you. Even berries that were considered edible, if you ate more than a couple of handfuls or ate them in combination with certain other berries; you could die a slow and painful death.

For some reason I mentioned something about the cemetery that lay between here and the main township.

Alfie grinned as she flicked through the pages of the text book and said, "There was a cemetery near our home in Four, but no one living around there is allowed to be buried in it." I asked why and she replied with, "Because it's illegal to bury people alive."

It had been such a bad joke and Alfie knew it, but we'd both laughed anyway. It was the sort of joke that my Dad would tell and I'd always found those sorts of joke amusing in their stupidity.

I nodded my head and Eitan continued, "It was one of our Dad's jokes; Alfie fell for it twice. And it was the first time she'd talked about anything even remotely related to Dad in front of someone outside of the family. Well, outside of me. She kept this strong facade up for Aloki and Maya but I saw through it.

"That was when I realised that she... must really like you. And if she liked you then I knew there had to be something there. As the foremost expert on Alfie, here in District Two, I can guarantee you that she likes you. I don't know why but I know that she does. I wouldn't let you stay here if that wasn't the case."

I liked that. Eitan has known Alfie her whole life, if anyone knew her then it was him. And he said that Alfie liked me, and I couldn't be upset by that. It didn't do as much to help me with my feelings towards Calder as I would have liked but at least I knew that there was something there between me and Alfie. At least I knew I wasn't alone in thinking that we could be good together.

That's if Alfie wanted to be with me after she gets out of the Games. Tributes rarely left the Arena the same as when they went in. There were generally two ways they changed, either they became harder or they became softer. I didn't want Alfie changing but there was nothing I could do to stop it. Calder's presence in the Games only made matters worse. Regardless of how it happened, Alfie was going to change because of Calder's inevitable death.

At least it was inevitable to me. After watching her altercation with Lin from District Nine, I knew that she had it in her to win the Games. A trained Career and a cunning competitor, even the Gamemakers couldn't deny that she had the best odds of winning. She had been lethal in the face of her own mortality and still managed to keep herself.

Something that I worried would not remain true after Calder's death. I was willing to accept that she still loved him but that meant that seeing him die would be damaging, one way or another. There was next to no chance that she wouldn't lose herself when he died and I prayed that it happened before the final two. Actually, I kind of hoped that it would happen sooner rather than later. There was no knowing how she'd actually react when it finally did happen and I didn't want her shutting down for a few days when she had no one to protect her from other tributes.

I looked up at Eitan, who was smiling meekly at me, and the statement rolled past my lips before I could stop it, "I'm sorry about Pierce's threat. You know the one about protecting Maya?Rather, not protecting Maya? He was just being an arse."

"Hey!" Pierce gasped from the doorway, I hadn't known he was there, "I've already apologised for that and I'm not an arse."

Eitan laughed, "To clarify, he said you were being an arse not that you were one." he turned to me, "And Pierce has already assured us that Maya is safe. The non-Career siblings of a Tribute apparently receive automatic protection here in District Two."

I nodded. It was another thing that was unexpected, this budding friendship between Pierce and the Neilssons. I guess in times of stress people do unusual things, like befriending someone who threatened your baby sister with a torturous death. But I knew that Pierce wasn't all that bad, he just had a reputation to protect and didn't want some District Four orphans ruining it.

It wasn't all fun and games here in District Two, especially being a Career. We had to make sure that we were seen as strong, emotions were considered a sign of weakness because in the Arena they can get you killed. We worked our fingers to the bone practicing with different weapons and making sure that we were the best fighters possible. We wore ourselves out for the chance to enter the Games, knowing full well that it may be the last thing we do.

But we're human. Everyone is. So it was rarely about true talent and more about perceived talent. Take Alfie for instance, here in Two she had received little recognition as a potential victor but since the Gamemakers had given her that eleven, it was all the town could talk about. In fact, in many circles Raze had been replaced as the wonder tribute, even in amongst some of the richer folk who normally invested in Raze's crew.

It was all about looking like you could win, but keeping up that facade was exhausting. I had made errors in judgement, just as Pierce had during his first meeting with Alfie and Aloki. But he'd made up for it. He'd ordered the crew to avoid making unannounced visits to the Neilssons and to try to intercept any neighbours from making similar stopovers. They were also responsible for relaying important information to and from the Neilssons, something they had done very well.

"Of course they do. It's not like we don't have enough tributes in training to keep her out of the Games." I smiled and finished my glass of water.

Eitan's face fell, "I have to ask... if you're as in love with Alfie as you claim to be... will you be volunteering next year?"

The question was pointed at me but I turned to Raze.

"Not necessarily. As a crew we take on the 'if-a-Career-is-selected-then-no-one-needs-to-volunteer' policy. But regardless, I'm sure one of the others will be willing to take your place." Pierce said softly.

There were three other male tributes that would be eighteen next year, and one who would turn eighteen during the Games. They were not the strongest or most talented but they would certainly be able to hold their own. Armstrong and Rutger were archers but they were borderline useless at close combat. Paxten wanted to be a spearman and refused to try to be anything else, although his throw wasn't quite strong enough for it to count in the Games. Finally there was Malin, who had one hell of a swing with a sword, but found it difficult to maintain when he was aiming at an actual human being.

I nodded, "I'd like to remove my name from the list, if it's a possibility."

Pierce beamed at me, "Consider it done."

Our conversation was interrupted by Aloki, "Guys! Collision imminent!" We rushed from the kitchen, my heart pounding hard as I considered that Alfie may be involved in this coming fight. The relief was almost overwhelming when I entered the living room and she was not on the television.

The boy from Ten and the girl from Five were shown on a split screen and the map in the corner indicated that they were due to cross paths within the next few minutes. Eitan snatched up the notepad from the mantle and scrolled through the list of names and numbers. All the tributes were on this notepad; their District, their name and their training score. We were crossing them off as the Games went on; we could get an official poster for this but in the current situation, we felt like that would be inappropriate.

"District Five is Istella; seven. District Ten is Evun; six. They may not even fight." Eitan announced and put the notepad back on the mantle.

It wasn't unusual for tributes with lower training scores to avoid fighting, particularly in the early stages of the Games. The general expectation was that the Careers would find them all eventually so it was better to save their health for then. Most tributes only remembered the tributes with high training scores, generally eight and up, because these were the biggest threats. Chances were neither of them would want to start anything. So the first to notice the other would likely just run away.

I held my breath as the split screen dissolved and a single shot was able to capture both tributes. She noticed him first and reached behind her back as she watched Evun plod along in front of her. He was unaware that she was there and his lapse in judgement would prove dangerous. I don't know how but Istella had a weapon.

"Now what we see there is the head of the spear that Istella stole from the Cornucopia a few nights ago. She's gained a lot of attention because of her stunt with the decoy fires and I think she has great potential." Claudius Templesmith chirped as Istella crept closer to her target.

My memory jumped back to the night that Alfie and Calder had been at the lake, I had been trying to block out most of that night; Istella had set a fire to the east and then snuck past the four Careers as they ran out to try to catch the tribute who was stupid enough to light a fire. She'd made it back to the Cornucopia before they reached the fire and took off with a single spear and a bag full of food.

None of the Careers noticed until Day Five when Calder complained about missing food. The bag that Istella had stolen contained the supply of District Four bread and smoked salmon, which Maya told me was Calder's favourite fish. I had a feeling that if it had been any other bag and any other District's food, the Careers would never have noticed.

Istella didn't know how to handle a spear and after a few hours of throwing it with little benefit, she snapped the shaft near the head and now looked to be intending to use it as a dagger. Despite her inability to use a spear, it had been a logical choice for her to take one. There was an over abundance of spears and tridents at the Cornucopia and few of most other weapons. The tridents had cumbersome head pieces that were made out of an excessive amount of metal, whereas the spears were mostly wooden and had relatively small heads. She'd been hoping for her theft to go unnoticed and it had mostly worked, the Careers had no idea who had stolen from them.

Evun turned around at the last second, as Istella drove the spear head up into his ribs. The blow was not as clean as a Career would have aimed for, it would take Evun a minute or so to bleed out but it was a fatal blow none-the-less. He lashed out at Istella, clocking her in the jaw and causing her to stumble away from him.

He tried to run but he barely made it ten metres before he fell forward. He crawled through the swampy terrain, his knees and hands sinking deep into the mud. Blood spilled from his mouth, Istella had likely punctured his lung. Soon he didn't have anything left in him at all and he collapsed into the soft ground.

His cannon sounded and Istella rushed to his body.

Without a second of hesitation she grabbed at his shirt and tried to roll him over. The spear head was lodged in his front and she knew she had to get it back. There was a gross sucking sound as she managed to get him out of the mud enough to turn him over. She reached towards the bloody wound in his chest, gripped the short piece of wood that stuck out and pulled. Her hand was covered in mud and blood, but she didn't seem to register it as she walked away from her first victim.

She was a surprise. She was going to be someone to watch. Istella was dangerous.

_**Author's Note:**_

I would like to say a big thank-you to everyone who has reviewed. Your encouragement, comments and suggestions have been very helpful. I would especially like to thank Sundragons9.


	16. The Beginning of the End

The Games do weird things to people.

In the first few days Yolanna couldn't stand any of the other Careers, except for Calder. I knew that she had a problem with me, but that stemmed mainly from the fact that I was representing Two and therefore she saw me as an enemy. But we had just breached the ten day mark, and for the last few days she'd been incredibly chummy with Chenille. To the point where we were no longer divided by District when we split up for partols.

During searches, or 'hunts' as Chenille and Taffeit called them, Yolanna and Chenille would pair up; as would Raze and Taffeit. Leaving me and Calder to spend numerous awkward hours together.

I got a feeling that the Gamemakers had aired mine and Cal's conversation from the second day and I wondered how it was received amongst the Districts, especially Two and Four. I hated the thought that Cato had seen it. It troubled me because I didn't really know what was going on. Last night I had dreamt of Cato watching my discussion with Cal, Cato sitting on the couch in his living room with his arm around Clove. I didn't like the thought of him being with Clove but there hadn't been any definitive comment that told me he actually gave a shit about me. A kiss was just a kiss, it had little meaning in the grand scheme of things.

Dating sucks. Social lives in general were bullshit.

I wasn't popular in Four and most of my friendships were of convenience rather than affection. My first 'boyfriends' were arseholes and they only liked me because I was top of the class in Close-Combat and near the top of the class in Hunting and Gathering. I had a few close friends who truly seemed to like me but the majority didn't. I was not a pleasant person around those that I didn't know, Cato had seen that first hand. My family was the most important thing to me and everything else came in a distant second.

Calder hadn't minded. He liked me because I was hard to get to know. He liked me because he knew the real me, and he knew that because he was my brother's friend. Calder knew more about me than anyone outside of my family and I loved him for it. Even when I told him things that he didn't want to hear, he respected me and listened to me. For the longest time I had thought that he was the only one for me; I'd thought we were meant for one another.

Now I knew that wasn't true, but part of me still longed to believe it. Another part of me hated me for thinking about any of it; while I was worried that Cato wasn't interested in me, I couldn't shake the feeling that I was just trying to make things easier for myself. It was easy to think that Cal was the only one that loved me and that Cato wouldn't be hurt if I gave in to my own confusing feelings. It was easier to think that I wasn't a bitch for still loving Cal.

"This mud is exhausting. Who would have thought that walking could be so difficult?" Cal laughed as he stumbled out of the deepest part of the bog.

We were in the south-west section of the wetlands. A place where the water was so stagnant and motionless that it was little more than a field of mud, with dying and dead trees scattered throughout the sloppy land. The sludge stuck to our clothes and weighed down our feet, making each step harder and harder. This area was worse than the rest of the wetlands, at least everywhere else there was still a difference between the water and the soil. It was the most miserable place I had been in a long time.

"You could at least try to be civil." Cal growled as he stepped in front of me, sufficiently stopping me in my tracks, "I don't think that's asking a lot."

I stared at him. I had thought that he understood but clearly I was wrong. If he had understood than he would know that he was asking a hell of a lot. I could feel the affection that I had for him, deep inside me, and I could feel it stirring and growing. He had to realise that this was not an easy situation, not for me. And it shouldn't be easy for him either.

I shook my head slowly, "Look at where we are. Why do you want to make this harder?"

"I'm not trying to make this harder; I'm trying to make this easier."

"You think digging up the past, rekindling what we had, will make any of this more bearable? Are you insane?"

"I think that we are all we've got. Do you think I haven't noticed the time that Yolanna has been spending with them and away from us? I would like to try to enjoy what time I have left, and I can't think of any way better than spending it with you. The real you. The one that loved me and that made me feel like I actually mattered."

"If you think I don't love you, then you're an absolute moron. I want distance because loving you is making this hard. I don't want to die but I can't stand the thought of losing you."

"What about Cato?" Cal was angry but I could tell that the anger was not actually directed at me.

I was surprised. I hadn't mentioned Cato to anyone and I had hoped that Cal especially would never hear about him. It was only going to make this more awkward and already I could feel a tension growing between us that I had never experienced before, not with Cal anyway.

My voice caught in my throat as I tried to respond, "How do you..?"

"You're not the only person from Two around here." I could see the hurt on his face and I hated it, "What does he have that I don't?"

I sat down in the mud, sinking into it up to my waist although my knees protruded through the surface. I didn't care if I was stuck here forever, not if it meant that I could avoid this disastrous conversation. My pants were brown with mud and I scraped at the cloth to remove the excess. Anything to not answer him. Mainly because I didn't know how to answer him.

Cal knelt down in front of me, taking my hands in his and staring me in the eye, "I'm not angry with you. I just really want to know."

"That! That is your problem. You always want to know why and you want to know it now. And sometimes I don't know. I want to but I don't." I sighed, "I need time to think but you never wanted to wait."

I thought of all the times that he'd asked me questions that I couldn't answer. Of how much it had hurt me to not be able to console him or appease his desire for knowledge. Normally it wasn't anything big so I got over it quickly, but the times that it was big... times like these, I still felt bad for all those times.

Cal shook his head slowly, "I'm sorry. I just want you to talk to me, like you used to." Cal tried to give me a chance to think but his own curiosity got the better of him and he blurted, "Do you love him?"

My eyes caught Cal's and I stared at him for a few silent moments, "I don't know how I feel at the moment. Ever since I saw you in the Reaping... I've been beyond confused."

He smiled at me and tried to pull me to my feet. I watched his face and saw the change in his eyes as he came to some silent realisation. A few months ago I would have known what it was that he'd just thought; as it was, I had no idea what to expect when next he opened his mouth. I was half way up when he said, "Well, let's get you home to him then."

I pulled out of his grip and fell back into the mud. My feet, hands and hips sunk deep into the ground, to the point where even my knees were covered by the sludge. I didn't care how hard it was going to be to get out again, I was too shocked to be bothered by it.

It was one thing to know that one of us was going to die, possibly both; but it was another thing altogether to hear that Cal was already planning on his death. If he wasn't then he wouldn't have mentioned me 'going home'. I couldn't believe that he was thinking like that.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I yelled.

Cal looked surprised, "What?"

I was in tears by the time I spoke, "Why would you say that?" I knew that it wasn't right to be crying in the Arena. We were taught to suppress emotions from a young age in case of moments like this but I didn't care. The thought of Cal being alright with dying was not comfortable and I hated him for putting it in my head.

"Because I know I'm not good enough to win this but you can. And I can help you with that." Cal said timidly.

I bellowed at him as I tried to heave myself out of the mud, "You know what? Fuck you, Calder Van Dillon. If you're so intent on sacrificing yourself then you can finish this patrol on your fucking own. I don't want anything to do with you anymore."

It was hard work because there was no solid ground to lean on. I rolled around, trying to dislodge my body from the suction of the mud. I was coated from shoulder to foot and my hair was matted with globs of muck by the time I got back to my feet. The exhaustion was almost too much and I struggled to walk past Cal.

He tried to stop me but I pulled out of his grip and stormed to the north. We were a couple of hours from the Cornucopia and not supposed to head back until the sun was starting to set. I didn't really care about that at the moment. The sight of Cal made me furious, to the point where I thought I might kill him myself if I didn't get away from him.

I stopped a few metres from him. I wanted to leave him alone in this mire but I couldn't. He'd saved me at the Cornucopia on the first day and he had always been a friend to me. I couldn't leave him at this time, he clearly wasn't thinking straight. If he was anyone else I would have left him, but he was Cal, and as much as it confused me, I loved him.

I turned back to him, "Don't talk to me."

We continued on our patrol in silence.

That night I sat alone at the mouth of the Cornucopia. Cal tried to talk to me but I flat out refused to respond to him. If he was so determined to throw his life away then I would make sure that he knew how I felt about it. I would not condone his plan.

"There's only ten of us left. This alliance isn't going to last much longer." Cal whispered as he sat down beside me. I looked away from him and bit my lip to stop from replying. It was hard not to talk to him, I wanted nothing more than to go back to a time when things weren't so confident. Cal sighed, "I'm sorry that I upset you but I'm trying to protect you. We can't trust them anymore."

"Did you actually trust them before?" I couldn't help myself and I noticed a small grin spread across Cal's face.

"Of course not. But we need to consider when and how we're going to leave. Preferably before the hovercrafts pick us up."

I stared at the ground in front of me, "Does it really matter? Seeing how a hovercraft is in you foreseeable future anyway."

Cal sighed and rubbed his face, "Is it really such a crime for me to want you to live a long life?"

"It is if you're giving up on your life."

"I'm not giving up on my life, I'm giving it meaning. Value."

"You're sick. You are genuinely mentally ill. If you think the only way you have value is to die. It's suicide, that's what it is."

I was surprised when Cal wrapped his muscular arms around my shoulders and pulled me into another almost bone crushing hug. It was comforting and familiar in his arms and I almost forgot where I was, almost but not quite. His warm breath flowed over my shoulder and a shiver ran down my back.

"We need to leave tonight. We'll be the first target."

I pushed away from Calder and looked over my shoulder. Raze was fast asleep at the back of the Cornucopia and the two District One tributes were nowhere to be seen. They were on patrol and would likely be somewhere to the north, far enough away to not see us leave. Yolanna was asleep on the other side of the mouth of the Cornucopia.

"What about Yolanna?" I asked and Calder smiled. He seemed to recognise my question as meaning that I was agreeing to go with him.

His face dropped when he registered what my question was, "I don't know if we can trust her."

"She's our friend Cal."

"She's been chummy with the District One bitch, she's a liability."

I shook my head, "She's doing what you should be doing. She's trying to win."

Cal looked over to her and thought for a moment, "It's up to you but... I'd prefer if you didn't."

I got to my feet slowly, being careful not to make too much noise. We were all on high alert and were often woken by soft noises. I didn't want to wake Raze, that would ruin Cal's plans. On that thought I turned to Cal, "We should gather supplies first, so we can make a run for it if we need to."

We collected a few extra weapons and some camping supplies. Then I looted the food as I knew that we needed it less than them. It was cruel and selfish but anyway of weakening them or even reducing their numbers without violence, I'd take it. I'd much rather they starved to the point of killing one another than actually have to do it myself. Selfish but I didn't care. I'd do anything to not have to kill them with my own hands.

We slowly and carefully settled our packs on our backs before turning to Yolanna. I shook her shoulder gently and she stumbled back to consciousness. If we had left she would have been a massive target to everyone; she slept too soundly to be safe.

"What?" she groaned.

"Shh..." I said quickly, "We're going to leave. Will you come too?"

Yolanna was startled by the suggestion and looked around as if trying to figure out whether it was a joke or not. She spied Raze asleep at the back and then glanced over our packs. It took her a while to make up her mind and I had already prepared myself to run when she finally spoke.

"Do you want me to carry something?"


	17. Betrayed

CATO'S POV

I was shocked by Alfie's decision. She should know that leaving the group was dangerous because the other Careers would not just let them go. Alfie was about to become a definitive enemy of Raze and the District Ones, and I didn't trust Cal to be able to protect her.

The thing that worried me most was that Alfie wanted to include Yolanna in their escape. Sure there was strength in numbers but I questioned where Yolanna actually stood. She had been very friendly with the District One tributes to the point of telling them about Calder and Alfie's past relationship. Yolanna was too chummy with them to be safe.

They were almost at the edge of the Cornucopia's clearing when the cannon sounded. They paused momentarily and looked to the sky, hoping to see a face on the dark sky. But the sky remained blank because the Capitol had already played the anthem and showed that there was no deaths earlier in the day.

We'd witnessed, just moments before, the death of Istella by Sammi from District Twelve. What we were watching now was a few minutes old but it was interesting enough that it was the main focus of the broadcast. That had me worried because at the moment they were just standing there and I hated to think what made it so interesting.

The camera focused on the Cornucopia, where Raze was stirring. It took him a few moments to realise that he was alone by the metal shelter. His face flushed red in the glow of the torches that they had set up, when he noticed the glow of the torches that Yolanna and Calder carried to light the way away.

He snatched up his sword and spear and stormed out of the Cornucopia. Gaining speed the further he got from the safety of the horn-shaped shelter.

Alfie, Calder and Yolanna did not need to think about what to do. They turned and ran into the wetlands. I wondered why Calder didn't make a stand, seeing how he was willing to die for Alfie; wouldn't taking out Raze be best for them all. But as long as Alfie was alive I didn't care how she survived.

"She can't get the axes." Aloki mumbled as he leant closer to the television.

He was right. The pack on her back was heavy and pinned her jacket over the top of the throwing axes. There was no way that she would be able to safely access them. This revelation made the situation make more sense. Alfie was vulnerable so it would be stupid for her to even consider holding her ground.

"Why isn't Calder trying to fight Raze?" Maya questioned, her words slightly muffled by the way that she was cuddling up to Eitan.

I heard Eitan whisper, "If he loses sight of Alfie or Yolanna he may not be able to find them again. They need to stick together, now more than ever."

We watched in silence as Raze chased the three Careers into the wetlands and with every passing minute I wondered why they didn't try to provide a united front. Raze couldn't attack them all at once and Calder had a trident in hand. The odds were stacked in their favour but they weren't monopolising on the situation. Chances are that would come back and bite them later. I hoped it bit Calder hardest.

After a short while Raze gave up but the others kept running. It was best to put as much distance between them as possible. They didn't continue for too much longer because Yolanna couldn't keep going. They stopped so she could have something to drink and waited for her to regain her breath.

Yolanna rummaged through Alfie's bag for some food and I could see that Alfie didn't like this idea, "You'll make yourself sick if you eat now. We need to find somewhere better to set up camp."

"I just need a quick bite, don't be such a worry wart." Yolanna muttered through a mouthful of bread.

Calder was busy keeping an eye out for Raze's return and clearly wasn't listening to their argument, "I think we should head south. It's too easy to follow us if we keep going straight."

"Fine." Alfie grunted as she repositioned the pack on her back. Neither she nor Calder had given their pack to Yolanna, in fact she wasn't carrying anything other than a torch. I think this little fact made Alfie less accepting of her current exhaustion and hunger, she should be able to run miles more than them.

"Okay, I think I drank too fast. I need to use the Little Girls Room." Yolanna chirped as she struggled through the boggy ground towards a tree.

Calder grumbled something under his breath before turning towards Alfie, "We'll start heading south. Try to keep up."

The camera focused on Yolanna who was mumbling a response as she hid behind a tree. It showed her cruel glare as she fiddled with something in her hands. I didn't understand what her problem was but I thought maybe she was starting to regret her decision.

She struggled to catch up with Calder and Alfie but the cameras seemed to get bored with the trio once she had. It turned its attention back to the Cornucopia.

Taffeit and Chenille were back at the Cornucopia and they did not look happy with what they saw. Districts Two and Four were nowhere to be seen and a good chunk of supplies, mostly food, were gone. Calder had broken the leftover spears and taken the spear heads with him, efficiently stripping Taffeit of his best weapon.

Chenille kicked an empty quiver, Yolanna had taken the arrows from several quivers and condensed them into just two; both of which she'd taken with her. The Cornucopia looked like it had been ransacked and the District One tributes looked like they could boil water with their anger. Chenille was visibly shaking and she kicked at the metal shelter in her annoyance. The echo that proceeded it made me think that she might have just really hurt herself.

"They all left us!" Taffeit roared, "Even Raze."

Chenille screeched back at him, "Screw Raze, he'd sell out his own mother for a few dollars. I can't believe that Lanna lied to me. Me?!"

Taffeit shook his head as he inspected one of the piles of food that was now greatly diminished, "That's not an issue. You might be deceivable but I'm not." He grinned as he finished talking and I knew that look. It was one that Pierce had used more than once, most of the District Two Careers had used it at least the once; I knew I had when I convinced a teacher to give me an extension that I didn't deserve. Taffeit had something that Chenille didn't and it involved Yolanna.

"What does that mean?" Chenille snarled as she slumped down on a metal crate.

Taffeit was still smiling, even though half their food was gone and a bunch of their weapons left useless, "That's for me to know and you to find out."

"You realise that we now have four Careers out there that will work together to kill us." Chenille grumbled.

"Three!" Raze yelled as he dropped his sword and spear, "When the fuck did that happen?" He bellowed and pointed at the broken spear shafts.

"We should be asking you that. You had one job to do. Keep an eye on the whore and that love sick puppy. You couldn't even do that right." Chenille screamed at the mud clogged Raze.

"They weren't talking to each other an hour ago. How was I to know they had this planned?"

"Maybe because she's from your District."

"Bullshit. She's a fucking District Four tribute if ever I knew one."

Taffeit had grown weary of their arguing already, "Shut up, you two. There isn't anything to worry about. Did you get any of them?"

Raze shook his head.

"Fat lot of help you are." Chenille mumbled.

We stayed glued to the television for hours but nothing happened. Alfie, Calder and Yolanna walked south the whole time, until they stumbled across a dry patch of land on which they could settle to wait out the last hours of the night. The other Career's spent the rest of the night sleeping as if the disappearance half their group was nothing to worry about.

I didn't understand their lax attitude to the situation. Regardless of whatever it was that Taffeit had planned, there was a very real threat now lurking in the wetlands and I was sure that I wouldn't be able to sleep at a time like that.

It was clear that Alfie hadn't thought through including Yolanna in their escape plan. It was far from what Yolanna had expected and she felt the need to point that out every chance she got. I was glad that Yolanna was there, only because it meant that Alfie didn't have to be alone with Calder. After a few days, Alfie was about to reach her breaking point.

"It was your idea." Cal whispered as they kept watch for a potential attack.

Tully from District Eight was slain that day, by Oliveen, and Alfie and Cal were on high alert. As they should have been because Oliveen, the remaining District Seven tribute, was camping a few hundred metres away. It was easy to see that Oliveen was trying to play things somewhat safe. She was remaining just out of view from the three renegade Careers which was a smart move. As long as she didn't catch their attention then she might be able to outlast everyone else.

Alfie rolled her eyes and stared at the eastern horizon, "It was the right thing to do."

"How do you figure?"

She sighed and checked that Yolanna was still asleep, "At least while she's here we can keep an eye on her. Or at least we can be sure she's not telling them things we don't want them to know."

"How do we know she hasn't already told them?"

"We don't. But we need to minimise the potential wherever we can."

Calder shook his head as he stared at the sleeping Yolanna, "I never liked her. Not even before we were tributes. She's not talented like you but she's more cunning than anyone else I know. She'll do anything to survive, no matter how questionable."

Alfie took a deep breath before responding, "She deserves to win. That's what the games are about, doing what you have to to make it home again. We'll die before she does."

"Not if I can help it."

Calder fell backwards as Alfie moved to look at him, "You're planning to die to save me, while plotting Yolanna's demise?"

"If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. I'd do anything to save you, if that means killing my fellow District Four Tribute than you can bet your sweet arse that that's what I'll do."

Alfie shook her head as she turned back to the east, "You've always liked to sound tough but you're not going to hurt her. I know you well enough to know that you wouldn't do that."

The next morning the canon sounded just before daybreak. Waking Alfie and Yolanna from their sleep. Yolanna was supposed to be keeping watch but she'd barely last half an hour before sleep took hold.

From my spot on the floor of the Neilsson's living room I had witnessed the inhumane slaughter of Sammi from District Twelve. Chenille, Raze and Taffeit had stumbled across the lanky tribute as he snoozed in the upper branches of a waterlogged tree. They'd proceeded to wake and torment him by throwing things at him. When he finally slipped out of the tree, his perch unsteadied by copious amounts of mud that had been flung at him, they kept teasing him. They had numbers on their side and they took their time completing what they needed to do.

After they'd abused the poor tribute they walked away, leaving him to bleed slowly from the numerous deep wounds that they'd inflicted. It had only taken a few minutes for him to pass out and by that time the three cruel Career's were already long gone. None of them had the guts to put Sammi out of his misery and it made me sick to think that they were the sort of people I'd have to team up with in order win the Games, if I went next year. By the time that his cannon actually sounded the Career's were within sight of the Cornucopia and discussing settling down for the rest of the day.

So the camera's had jumped to the three renegade Careers, in order to record their reaction.

"Who do you think that was for?" Yolanna asked with a yawn as she scanned the skies for a hovercraft.

Calder looked annoyed by her question, "I don't know for sure but I hope it was one of the Careers."

"There!" Alfie called and pointed to the north. The hovercraft was scarily close to them and it was clear that it's proximity concerned Alfie. She turned to Yolanna, "Where you keeping watch?"

Yolanna looked offended, "Of course."

"Then you should have seen something off in that direction. You were supposed to be watching that way." Alfie yelled; the thought of Yolanna sleeping through her watch seemed to be the annoyance to push Alfie over the edge.

"I'm sorry that my eyesight isn't perfect!" Yolanna yelled back.

Alfie strode towards Yolanna, "I'm not asking for perfection but you look like you've just woken up. You put all our lives at risk when you sleep through your watch."

"I wasn't sleeping." Yolanna lied.

"And I don't believe you. Why did you bother to come with us? You clearly don't want to be here."

Calder stepped between the two girls, "Okay, calm down Alfie. We're all alright so no harm no foul."

"Big harm! Big fucking foul!" Alfie screamed in Calder's face.

Yolanna stepped up behind Calder, "You know what? Fuck you. Fuck the both of you. Ever since we left I've been the odd one out. It feels like the only way to fit in with you two is to suck one of you off and I'm sorry but my standards won't allow for that. So screw you two and your demented little love story, I'd be safer on my own."

She backed away and stormed from the little island clearing that they had been camping at for a few days now.

The screen split in two and showed Calder and Alfie watching on one side and Yolanna walking away on the other. Soon Calder and Alfie started packing up their things, having had a quiet discussion and deciding that it was best that Yolanna didn't know where they were. As they did this the screen focussed on Yolanna.

She checked over her shoulder to find that she could no longer see Calder and Alfie. Once she was sure that she was out of sight she reached into the pack quiver and pulled out an arrow. For a moment I thought she was going to start firing at Alfie and Calder but she didn't. She loaded the arrow into the bow and aimed towards the island. When she released the arrow it flew into a tree a few metres from the island.

Alfie and Calder seemed to notice a sound but they didn't see anything and turned back to packing their things.

Yolanna on the other hand headed back towards the Cornucopia, firing arrows into trees every now and then. Leaving herself a proverbial trail of bread crumbs back to the island.

It didn't take long for everyone to piece things together and the atmosphere in the house became very tense. Although it seemed to be a sense that had been trained into us because Maya and Jaylyn looked around the room awkwardly as we all stared at the television in disbelief.

"What is it?" Jaylyn asked with a hoarse voice; she was coming down with a cold.

Aloki shook his head in shock, "It's what Taffeit was so confident about."

"He got to Yolanna. She's going to betray Cal and Alfie by leading the others to them. And Yolanna heard them discuss where they'd go next. This is very dangerous." Pierce explained.

Things were coming to a close and it wasn't looking good for Calder and Alfie.


	18. Cornered

We were still trekking through the swamp when the horizon started to swallow the sun. Having stopped just the once to eat a single bread roll, we were both exhausted but knew that we couldn't stop. The murky water had soaked through all our clothes, tripling their weight and freezing our skin. I was grateful for the plastic lining of the bags because without it all the food would be spoiled.

Moving was probably not the most efficient thing to be doing. Yolanna knew where we were heading because she'd been part of making the decision. Not the biggest part, she mainly just suggested places and directions that Calder and I thought were either stupid or dangerous, or both. Calder and I had planned where we would group up, once the Career alliance started to crumble, in the first few days. Unfortunately, Yolanna overheard mention of it so we had to give up that part of our plan to her.

We suspected that Yolanna would at least try to get back in with the other Careers; she had admitted that she wouldn't be able to survive long on her own. Still, we had no other plan. There was no other logical choice and if the other Careers were half as smart as they thought they were, they would already be keeping an eye on the fresh water lake to the north west of the Arena. We figured that going the long way around would throw them off a little; at least we hoped it would.

Even if she didn't, she had a bow and a quiver packed with arrows, a few good shots and she could take us both out without breaking a sweat. Both Cal and I needed space to line up a shot and she could easily fire a bow while in thick cover. We were hanging by a thread in terms of making it out of the Arena; everyone would be after us and there was little that we could do to slow them down.

Not to mention that the girl from District Seven had us within her sights for the last few days. Cal had been the first to notice her but we hadn't done anything about her. She was a smart tribute and she was waiting for her moment, most likely when the other Careers were bearing down on us, or once we were the only ones left. At least that's what I would do; wait until everyone else had done all the fighting and killing, saving my energy for that last tribute.

We didn't say a thing as we trudged on, talking just wasted our breath and we needed to save as much energy as possible. I was certain that once we made it to the fresh water lake then we would be in far better standing than the others. We would be safe there and we would be able to watch our backs, as the cliffs encircled more than half the lake. And we were District Fours, if we couldn't save ourselves in water than we didn't deserve to be saved.

Cal stopped short and pivoted around to inspect the gnarled open forest behind us. I turned to follow his gaze, he had probably heard something that I missed.

Sure enough we saw her and she made no attempt to hide. District Seven was trying to throw us off our game, trying to show us that she wasn't afraid of us. We were already on the run and knowing that there was yet another person actually chasing us was a nerve racking thought. We didn't have time, nor the energy, to send a warning shot her way and she knew that too; also that would ultimately lose us one of our weapons which we definitely couldn't afford.

I grabbed Cal's arm and tugged gently. District Seven was the least of our worries and the Careers were no doubt still hot on all our trails. He didn't need a second gesture and turned away from District Seven; she had no long range weapons to threaten us with.

* * *

The sun set and we were still walking. If we kept going, kept pushing ourselves, we'd make it to the lake by morning. But we knew that we couldn't do that. Already we were lagging, the world was closing in on us and sleep was trying to force us to our knees. It wouldn't be long before it succeeded.

Cal stumbled and barely stopped himself from face planting the mud. We had to stop. I couldn't keep pretend that we could make it. If we didn't stop now then we were almost guaranteed to lose more than just our stability.

"Stop, Cal. We have to stop."

He sighed heavily before nodding a reluctant agreement, "You rest first, I'll keep watch."

"No." I argued, "You're the one about to pass out. Climb that tree, and I promise I'll stay at the bough."

Cal hesitated but eventually gave in. He clumsily climbed up a couple of branches and nestled awkwardly into the fork of the branch. I leant against the bough of the tree, forcing myself to not sit down, lest I get too comfortable and fall asleep myself. It felt like ages but couldn't have been more than a few minutes before I heard Cal's breathing deepen. He'd never really snored by his breathing became so deep and heavy that it almost verged on snoring.

I realised that I really needed to pee and with Cal asleep I couldn't see the harm in finding somewhere sheltered to go. I didn't want to go under where Cal was sleeping because somehow I had retained a little bit of my societal ways. It felt stupid considering all I had been through but I hated the idea of urinating where we were sleeping.

I hid behind the second closest tree, all the time feeling stupid for my insecurities. With my pants around my knees I tried to go as fast as possible, finding the thought of people hunting me quite disconcerting.

As if fate could read my mind, and hated me, I heard the liquid thud of someone landing in mud. I looked up to find myself face to face with District Seven. I cursed my sudden desire for social normality as I realised that I would literally be facing my death with my pants down. Seven just smiled at me as she pulled out a war axe from her belt.

"I knew you'd let your guard down eventually and your love-sick puppy isn't here to help you." she snarled as I pulled up my pants. Seven bounced the head of the axe against the palm of her hand, when combined with her size and apparent good health, it was a very intimidating sight. I reached behind my right hip to unhook a throwing axe from my weapons belt. Seven's eyes flared when she saw the small sharp axe, "I knew you had to have a secret weapon. How else could you get a training score of twelve? Tell me, do you really think that you can out wield a District Seven tribute with an axe?"

I didn't say anything, and instead just stared at her with cold defiance. This wasn't my first rodeo and I was damned if I was going to let it be my last; at least, not without putting up a fight. If Seven wanted add my name to her list of victories then I was going to do everything I could to make sure that I had some part in her demise.

I coiled my arm ready for the throw and loosed it after a short pause. Pauses often helped to throw your opponent off guard. A single fluid motion without pause was almost always expected, but add in a pause and suddenly they were out of time with you. Unfortunately this had you out of time with them so the benefit was short lived. Seeing how Seven only had a battle axe and I was well out of her reach, I knew that the pause would be worse for her than for me.

But Seven seemed to have expected some sort of trickery and she inelegantly dodged the flying axe, although not before it's sharp blade scratched along her upper arm. She cursed at the stinging pain but we both knew that the cut was not fatal, it would barely slow her down at all. She strode forward, the look in her eyes as cold as ever. I fumbled for another throwing axe, intending to stop her dead in her tracks; but I never did.

What did slow her down, entirely, was the trident that lodged itself in her chest. It stuck so deep that her canon sounded before she even had a chance to look at the weapon protruding from her torso. She never looked at it, she just overbalanced and fell forward. Dead before she started to tip and limp as the shaft propped up her body, keeping it out of the mud.

"I tried not to fall asleep." Cal mumbled as he walked around the tree. Looking back at him I found the sun was rising. He must have read the confusion on my face, "You fell asleep standing up, I tried to keep watch but... you were right, I was too tired. I'm so sorry."

I let my emotions get the better of me and I threw myself at Cal. Clinging to him in a way that I hadn't for a long time. This was all getting too much, I just wanted to be able to sleep. One way or another I wanted peace from this Arena and there were still five more deaths to go before the victor would be announced. It was nice to feel Cal's arms around me, to feel his muscles tighten in his tender embrace.

"Just four more to go." he whispered in my ear, "You only have four to worry about now."

* * *

The sight of deep clean water brought tears to my eyes. After my little episode this morning I refused to show any more weakness, so I rushed to the lake and sloshed through the shallows to reach depths that were more suited to diving. I sprung forward and dove under the calm water.

The feel of cool water rushing past my face was like a drug. I forgot where I was and just embraced the familiarity of swimming. I could see my brothers swimming alongside me; we were racing towards some underwater goal and nothing was going to get in our way. My father's beaming face came up from the dark depths of the lake centre.

His face brought up the vision of the fallen tribute from my first days in the Arena and suddenly dozens of faces were whirling around her. Faces from the Cornucopia. Faces from the training yard. Everyone who had died, whether she'd seen them dead or not, they were dashing in and out of her vision. Smeared with blood and mud and grime. Every tribute whose canon had sounded was running through her vision, their presence alone forcing her to try to recall their names.

The District Nine tribute, the one that she had killed, came surging toward her. His eyes cold and glassy, his mouth hanging slightly ajar. There was a deep, open wound on his forehead; it was still bleeding and turning the water around his head a violent red. He didn't falter from his trajectory as he raced towards her and she started to panic. She flailed about as she tried to rush to the surface.

She broke through the lake surface and gasped in the icy morning air above it. She didn't feel like swimming anymore and headed towards the waterfall. As she made her way across the lake she looked behind her to find Cal not far off. He looked as uncomfortable as she felt.

They reached the base of the waterfall and pulled themselves up onto a large rock.

"I think we need to head up. If they get up there before us then not even our swimming ability will be enough to save us." Cal mumbled as he inspected the cliff face in behind us.

It wasn't too tall, 15 feet above the lake surface at the most. The face wasn't too smooth but the best footholds were few and far between. It would take a very carefully planned path to reach the top without breaking our necks. I had never been a good climber and the idea of scaling this cliff face was not particularly attractive to me.

Cal seemed to be able to read my mind and he reached out a calloused hand to grasp my shoulder, "We can leave it til later in the day, make sure we choose the best spot to start from."

I was about to tell him that I wasn't afraid, fully aware that he wouldn't believe me, when a canon sounded. I jumped and reached for Cal, checking that he was still in one piece, with no foreign bodies sticking out of him. When I was certain the Cal was okay, I relaxed and the realisation set in. Someone else was dead, the first of the six Careers was gone. To me there was little doubt who it was.

Yolanna.

I might not have really liked her but it was a sad thought that she had died. At the end of the day she was from District Four and her death reduced the chances of a District Four victory. If neither Cal nor myself could win this then I had wanted Yolanna to be victor. There was no chance for that anymore, no backup plan should we fail.

I had barely come to terms with the idea that Yolanna was no longer a part of the Games, and therefore no longer a threat, when yet another canon sounded.

I glanced at Cal and without words we made up our minds. We had to get to the top of the cliff, now.


	19. Twenty-One Down, Two To Go

CATO'S POV

I was starting to think that, for all their cunning, they were about to meet a very unimpressive demise; falling from a cliff onto submerged rocks. They'd break most of the bones in their bodies but no one would really be able to tell. I hated the idea of falling to my death; not because I didn't like falling, I found bungee jumping to be amazingly exhilarating, no it was the landing that I didn't want to think about.

The landing was the bit that would maim or kill you. And I wondered if you actually noticed a deadly landing; if you were just falling and then it ended with blackness or if you were conscious of the impact. The thought of feeling that feeling for even a second sent chills down my spine. To feel your skin bruise and pinch between rock and bone, to feel your bones bend and break, or maybe even just shatter.

I'd die if Alfie fell. She had slipped a little a couple of times and every time she did my heart would stop for a second. She had to make it out of there and back to me. We had to have a chance to be together.

Finally she made it to the top, with a hand from Calder at the very end. I was so relieved that she was on solid ground that I didn't get time to be jealous about how Calder embraced her. She was safe and that was all that mattered. Well, as safe as she could be in this current predicament.

It was two on two now. Alfie and Calder versus Raze and Taffeit. Chenille had not taken well to the return of Yolanna and after a day of stalking through the wetlands with no sign of their quarry, Chenille had jumped to the conclusion that Yolanna was acting as a sacrificial lamb, leading them in the wrong direction so that Alfie and Calder could get a head start on them.

As it was, Alfie and Calder had stuck to their original plans, minus one small detail. They walked south for about an hour before they circled back around and travelled north. The plan had been to cross the Arena along its southern edge but they decided that the northern edge would suffice and possibly throw off their followers. They waited until they came across a deep section of stagnant water and then using their impressive swimming skills they swam well out of range of their previous tracks and started moving north.

This lead to it appearing that Yolanna was lying about where Alfie and Calder were going and how they were getting there. The resulting fight had cost both girls their lives and I hoped that something would come up between Raze and Taffeit that would do the same.

It made for particularly interesting watching in the Capitol.

The Capitol citizens were loving all the drama. The breakdown of alliances within the Arena was considered incredibly entertaining and this year the Gamemakers didn't have to do a thing to make it more interesting. Not to mention that the final four were all on a collision course, it was too easy of a year for them. No muttations had been conjured and no fires or floods were needed to liven things up.

And the Alfie-Calder affair was just too juicy for them to ignore. Amongst the Capitol it was believed that in the end Calder would suicide for Alfie, which I kind of liked because it showed that there was support for them to beat Raze and Taffeit. The fact that suicide was not only being brought up but celebrated made me feel kind of sick. It was strange because there wasn't even a whisper of a call for both to be victors, almost like the Capitol wanted to destroy this relationship.

We'd talked about it a little in the Neilsson household. How easy it would be for the Gamemakers to turn around and say that two may leave the Arena. It had never even been suggested before but there had never been two ex-lovers in there at the same time. We had hoped that love would make the Capitol see differently but it didn't.

Eitan believed it was because Alfie and Calder were over. Despite the attraction that was still evident, they were not going to be getting back together. The most that the Capitol had ever gotten was a teary-eyed hug. No, it wasn't a romance that the Capitol could invest in and so there was no way that they would bend rules for them.

Aloki still had hope. He still prayed that by some miracle the Capitol would grow a heart and let his sister and his old friend out of the Arena together. He had admitted that it wasn't Calder he was looking to save in such a situation but rather Alfie. Alfie would be devastated by the loss of Calder and it would 'kill her spirit', as Aloki had put it, if he took his own life.

There was a chance that it wouldn't come to that. After the death of the girls, Raze and Taffeit had discussed their options and come to the conclusion that the lake was as good an idea as any. Even if Alfie and Calder weren't there, the lake provided water and possibly food, they would be stupid not to check it out. So they continued towards the lake and ultimately towards Alfie and Calder.

The cameras were following Raze and Taffeit because Alfie and Calder were setting up a makeshift camp and there was nothing interesting about that.

Raze stopped and looked at his surroundings, "We should go up there."

"Why? We want to go to the lake not up the mountain." Taffeit argued.

Raze groaned, he was becoming impatient with Taffeit's short-term thinking, "Because it will put us on high grounds. We could spy the District Four bitches from a mile off and we could fire at them from a safe distance away."

"Oh, I never thought of that." Taffeit admitted and Raze rolled his eyes.

I hoped that Raze was closer to snapping then he looked. It would be so much easier for everyone if he lost his cool and killed Taffeit before they stumbled across Alfie. In fact, it would be easiest if Raze killed Taffeit and then targeted Calder before being finished off by Alfie. That way there would be the least amount of stress on Alfie; I say the least because I knew, in my heart, that there was no way out without some stress.

Raze and Taffeit walked on in silence and my anxieties grew to a level that I never knew they could reach. The closer they got to Alfie and Calder the sweatier my hands got. My lungs started to seize up, and unable to expand they burnt as air was forced in.

The whole room fell silent as we watched and waited with baited breath. The end was drawing near and there was nothing we could do to get the result we desired. Destiny lay in the hands of people that may as well have been a world away for all the influence we had on it.

I was so thankful that Maya was not here for this. She was safely guarded from all broadcasts of this event, in the confines of her classroom. Not that she had been doing much in school. She'd been sent home with a note saying that her grades had plummeted but her sister's 'predicament' was being taken into consideration, so no further action was going to be sought. But this was worse than failing grades and a lack of concentration, this anxiety was strong enough to kill; that I was sure of.

Soon enough I was on the verge of a breakdown and if it weren't for my desperate need to see what would happen for myself then I was sure that I would have passed out by now. I could feel my lungs screaming for air but no matter how deep I tried to breath I could not seem to feel them. My body was so numb that I couldn't feel the burnt in my chest anymore. My existence had been desensitized to everything except the yearning for Alfie to be safe and sound in my arms.

The screen split in two and somehow it made me feel even more numb. If I felt any less then I would be dead. And with how difficult breathing was, I could see death waiting for me. I had been told that it wasn't possible to hold your breath until you died because once you passed out you would start breathing again. But I wasn't choosing not to breath, my lungs had decided to stop of their own accord.

Calder was standing beside the waterfall, his trident poised over his shoulder as he watched the water rushing past him. He was fishing, the District Four way, and I couldn't help but wonder how many fish were actually in that river, and how many would actually be residing near the waterfall. I was sure there was some genius reason for his actions but I didn't want to ask, I couldn't ask.

On the other side of the screen the two other Career tributes were getting closer. They seemed to have sensed that something was ahead of them because they were walking cautiously now, trying to make as little sound as possible. Their eyes were darting around the open forest ahead of them seeking out the first sign of Alfie and Calder.

Raze stopped and hitched up his spear, Taffeit pausing as he did so. I don't know what happened but it was obvious as he released the spear that it wasn't on target. It flew past Calder, a miss but close enough to cut through the fabric of his shirt.

Calder adjusted his grip on the trident as he turned towards his attackers, so that he could aim at them. Calder would certainly not miss if given the chance but he had one trident against two opponents so he wasn't going to waste his shot.

"Where's the District Whore?" Taffeit growled as he and Raze slowly advanced on Calder. I thought this was a bad idea because a reduced distance definitely favoured Calder over them.

Calder's breathing was erratic as he responded, "She's not here. We went our separate ways."

"Bullshit." Raze sneered, "Why would you split up now?"

"I said that I wanted her to win and she didn't like the implication so she left." Calder half-lied, he was either stalling or genuinely trying to convince them that Alfie wasn't there. I wasn't sure if it'd work, surely Raze was smart enough to see through the lie, but I hoped for Alfie's sake that it did.

Taffeit laughed, "Where'd she go then?"

I was surprised that he bothered asking; he had to know that Calder wasn't going to tell him. Calder seemed just as confused, "Why would I tell you?"

Raze's voice was colder and harder than I ever remembered it being before, "Because if you tell us, we'll make this real quick. If you don't then we'll force the information from you."

Calder stepped back into the water, glancing over his shoulder to check the distance between him and the cliff's edge. I'd heard it from the Victors here in Two, no matter how weak the tribute or how unlikely they were to win, instinct made them anxious about death. No one wanted to die and Calder definitely didn't want to die by stepping over a waterfall.

"Give me the spear." Raze demanded and, with great reluctance, Taffeit handed over the weapon.

The spear was poised over Raze's shoulder, his muscles flexed and ready to release the long weapon. This time it was clear that he was aiming properly, the spearhead pointing at just the right angle that with the right amount of power it would pierce Calder's chest, slice through lung and heart with ease.

He angled his throwing shoulder back a little, preparing to launch the spear, and my heart froze again. It was just like every time Alfie's foot had slipped, only now it was much worse. My heart stuttered as it tried to restart and I got a feeling that it wouldn't pump steadily again, until I knew that the threat was gone.

"STOP!" Alfie had bellowed from the trees.

She walked into the bright daylight, with her hands raised to show she wasn't holding any weapons. This was a terrible idea, on Alfie's part, and I couldn't believe that she was being so reckless. If she was smart, she would have hidden behind those trees and taken Raze and Taffeit out with a pair of throwing axes before she made her presence known. This was ridiculously dangerous.

Raze laughed, "You truly are a fool."

"Don't laugh at her, just kill her." Taffeit roared, his face red with rage.

"Yes, take the shot District Two." Calder snarled and I could barely believe what I was hearing. That was until they changed cameras and I noticed that if Raze threw the spear he was step in line with Taffeit and Calder would be able to take them both out with his one trident.

Raze realised that there had to be some tactical reason why Calder would approve of this, so he paused. His eyes jumping around the scene to figure out what it was. It seemed he wasn't as smart as he liked to think he was, because he couldn't figure it out.

In the face of Raze's confusion, Alfie took her chance. Dashing from the trees to Calder, she ran through the stream, water exploding out from under her heavy footfalls. When she reached Calder, she stood partially in front of him, disrupting any shot aimed at Calder. I didn't like this, I didn't like it one bit, but I knew that Alfie had to have some sort of plan.

She unsheathed a single broadsword and a throwing knife, leaving Calder with quick access to the second broadsword that hung from her left hip. It was a risky move but it meant that they had more useable weapons than Raze and Taffeit, which put them at a slight advantage.

Raze laughed again, "You stupid bitch. I'm not going to be idiotic enough to come within sword reach of you and I know that you have shit aim. You're no threat to us."

Alfie raised the throwing knife, readying it for an attack. I knew she wasn't ready to attack straight away but she was showing them that she was going to fight, whether or not they thought it was useless. And I couldn't wait to see the look on Raze's face when he saw how good Alfie's aim was with small throwing weapons.

Raze shifted as he prepared to throw the spear at Alfie but he wasn't fast enough. Alfie's throwing knife left her hand and lodged itself in Raze's right shoulder, forcing him to drop the spear. Unfortunately, Taffeit wasn't going to stand for that and he ducked behind Raze to grab the spear. He spun as he stood up and the spear flew between the two pairs of tributes.

The next second they were falling. Alfie and Calder were thrown back by the attack and they tumbled over the edge of the waterfall. They fell fast, a camera beside the lake was positioned perfectly to track their decent.

A cannon sounded as they hit the water.

_Author's Note:_

_Sorry that it's taken so long to update this story, I've been a little busy._

_I'm thinking of stopping one of my current stories so if you don't want me to put this one on hiatus then please review._


	20. All or Nothing

Alfie's POV

We had fallen over the edge of the waterfall. I had barely missed the rocks at the bottom when I hit the water but it still hurt like a bitch. My back ached where it had landed flat on the lake and my neck felt as though it was no longer properly attached to my shoulders because of how it had snapped forward with the force of my landing.

My feelings towards the water were ambiguous. It was both comforting and terrifying. Comforting in its familiarity and general calming nature; water always made me feel better. But it terrified me because the water was what hurt me most in the fall. And once I was below the surface I couldn't get my bearings right. Up and down didn't exist with that much water around me and between the water that rushed past and the pain that throbbed in my body, I wasn't sure where the surface was.

I'd seen Cal in my periphery and reached out to grab his wrist. The landing must have really thrown him because he didn't react to my touch.

Finally, I burst through the surface, gasping for breath as my lungs kept demanding more. I let go of Cal's arm and looked up at the cliff top. I could have sworn that I'd heard a cannon but I wasn't certain. There was movement just over the top of the cliff but I couldn't tell what it was. I could hear someone yelling but their words weren't decipherable. When two heads poked over the top to look down at us, the cannon fire echoed in my head and I turned around to check on Cal.

I scrambled to heavy Cal's waterlogged body from the water. He was limp and it was unbelievably hard to move him, but I refused to stop until his torso was out of the water. I'd get him out if it killed me.

With his upper body out of the water I jumped around to crouch beside him, two fingers pressed to his jugular. Nothing. I leant over his face to listen to his breaths. Nothing. I measured out the correct distance and started to push down on his heart, in time with how I remembered his heartbeat.

After a few pumps I could feel something below my hands. It was warm compared to the cold water that was dripping from both of us but it had a disturbing chill to it. I kept pumping, even as thick crimson blood bubbled out from under the heel of my hand. Still, I refused to stop. In the back of my mind I knew that he was bleeding directly from the heart and, if anything, I was just forcing the blood out of his body.

"No. No. No. No. No. No!" I started to scream at Calder, there had to be a point at which he heard me. My voice sounded far off as I continued to mindlessly yell at Calder. I couldn't decipher my own words, beyond 'no', and was barely able to register that they were actually mine.

My chest ached as if a solid lump was growing between my lungs and the back of my ribcage. I'd never known that lungs could hurt so much, outside of holding ones breath to save from drowning. My throat was drying out from all my yelling and my words were starting to crack and catch.

Wind whipped around me and I shivered at the feel of the racing air past my wet limbs. I felt the goose bumps rise, as a body tingling shiver grew at the base of my spine. Above me was a hovercraft, its driver or possibly the Game-makers were clearly sick of me wasting time with the body of my friend. I didn't care. They could stay there for the next twenty-four hours and I wouldn't move; not before I was ready.

Eventually, I gave up on trying to get his heart pumping again. It was worse than useless. Instead, I sat back on the bank, still too close for the craft to come down and pick him up. I crossed my ankles and pulled my knees up to my chest, staring out over the lake. I couldn't believe that it had actually happened.

I sighed heavily as I dropped my chin between my knees, "I'm so sorry, Cal. This isn't what I wanted. Obviously, it's not."

The hovercraft started to make a loud metallic whirr. I didn't even glance at it because I could not have cared less about its presence. The whirr got louder the longer I sat there. I knew that they were trying to do, but I had no intention of giving in to them. If they wanted to take Cal from me then they were going to have to use force.

Reaching behind me I took Cal's large hand in mine. It was disturbingly cold and startlingly blue. I don't know why I felt the need to hold his hand, but I knew that I had to. It was the least that I could do, seeing how all of this was my fault.

I should have attacked them from the shelter of the forest. I didn't want to attack for fear that whoever I hadn't killed would do exactly what had happened. How ironic? I didn't do something that could have saved us for fear of killing one of us in exactly the way that one of us had died. Cal's death was entirely my fault and I should have to die here in order to pay for it, but I refused to let his killer become Victor. And I really didn't want Raze to win.

I wanted to kill them both. Maybe that would make me feel better, unlikely but I'd try at least. Cal wanted me to be Victor and I would be damned if I let his death be in vain.

I scrunched my eyes closed and pressed the heel of my palm into the left socket, trying to force the burning ache out of them. The back of my head throbbed as if I'd been bashed with a rock and there was a tremendous burning pain in my lower back. Everything was stiff and I lethargic remnants of forced sleep.

When I looked over my shoulder I found myself alone.

They'd sedated me in order to remove his body. While it didn't surprise me, I was still quite upset by it. I had wanted to say goodbye but I never got around to that. Again, I had left it too late to tell him that I loved him.

I looked up to where the hovercraft had been earlier today, "Fuck the Capitol!"

It was early morning, the day after our confrontation with Raze and Taffeit. I was surprised how lonely I felt. Loneliness had haunted me the whole time I'd been here, I felt isolated from the District Four tributes because I should have been one of them and I was rejected by District Two because I should have been a District Four tribute. Despite my relationship with Cal, I had still felt like I was alone.

But now was something else all together. At least when I had Cal there was someone to talk to, someone to remind me that there was a reason for me to want to win; Cal's presence was a reminder that there were people who loved me and wanted me to survive this. Without him it all felt so far off and foreign.

Without Cal, without anyone, I was the underdog and my demise was almost guaranteed. Trekking through the God forsaken Arena with only myself for company made it easy to forget that I had something to fight for, and made it harder to believe that I actually had a glimmer of a chance. In my head it was all very simple, I was going to die alone, and I was going to die soon.

The sun was starting to peek over the horizon and I couldn't shift the feeling that this would be the last sunrise that I would see. Somehow that wasn't enough to get me to stop or even turn around. I'd seen hundreds of sunrises and none had ever been that spectacular that I would regret having not seen it. I doubted this would be much different.

Anyway, sightseeing was not my biggest concern at the moment. I had one thing in mind and nothing else mattered. Not the sunset. Not the morning bird songs. Not even my own survival. Walking out of the Arena did not feature in my plans.

The Capitol and the Gamemakers were as much to blame in all of this as Raze and Taffeit were, so I was going to punish them as well. The Hunger Games were the biggest event of the year and the Victor was the most important 'player', without a Victor the Games would be moot. And that was my plan, to make it that no-one would be leaving the Arena alive.

I could see Raze and Taffeit's camp and I dropped low to the ground. One of them was still asleep, they'd be an easy target, but the other was awake and bustling around. His back was to me so I snuck up behind a closer tree; the shorter the gap the better my chances of a fatal blow. Keeping an eye on whoever was up, I pulled out one of the three throwing axes from my belt and lodged one of its edges into the tree. It's blade facing up so that I had easy access to it.

My own emotions surprised me. I had expected to be nervous in this moment, to lose my confidence and start to doubt myself and my plan. But I wasn't and I didn't. I was calm and collected, as ready and willing to do this as I was to walk my sister to school of a morning.

I felt the beginnings of a smile sneak onto my face at the thought of my sister but it wasn't able to stick. I glanced around me, trying to find a camera. They had to be positioned somewhere but from my position so close to the forest floor, I couldn't see any.

So I pressed my back to the tree that I was hiding behind and I stared ahead of me.

I whispered so as not to draw attention to my position, "To Mr and Mrs Van Dillon, words will never fully express how very sorry I am. To the whole Van Dillon family, I'm so sorry. To my family... I wish that this was not necessary. I really wanna... wanna see you again, but I don't deserve to win. And they certainly don't deserve to win." I gestured over my shoulder.

"Maya," I continued, "I love you. Don't ever change who you are, because you're the best in our family and you always will be. Aloki, stop acting like an idiot. Maya's going to need you now more than ever and you need to step up to the plate. Eitan... I'm sorry to dump this all on you but I know that you're strong. You're our father's son and I know that if anyone can make it work, it's you.

"Pierce. I never really liked you but I respect you, and I know that you're a man of your word. So please, stay true and protect my family because I can't anymore. To Pierce's crew, thanks for putting up with me. I wish I could have gotten to know a couple of you better.

"Cato..." I sighed, what was I supposed to say to Cato, "thank-you and sorry."

I snatched the last two throwing axes from my belt and readied my grip, it was now or never. I stepped out from behind the tree and set my sights and my aim. This was it. In about thirty seconds there would be no one for the Gamemakers to give the title of Victor. Unless I fucked up my shots, which I was determined not to do. Ruining the 73rd Hunger Games would quite literally be the last thing that I did.

Planting my feet squarely on the damp ground, I stood up. I took a deep breath as I straightened my shoulders and readjusted my grip so that there was no excuse for missing. This was going to have to be quick. Chances were that the Gamemakers had already figured out what I had planned and they wouldn't give me a lot of time once I'd released my weapons on my opponents.

"Oi! Boys!" I bellowed at the camp.

Understandably the first one to respond was the one that was already awake. He jumped to his feet and spun to face me, but he wasn't prepared for me. Without a single weapon in hand he was an easy target. I don't think he even saw the axe that flew towards him until it had lodged itself between his eyes.

Taffeit stood for a second before gravity took control of his body and forced him to the ground. As he fell, he fell backwards and landed over the small fire. Thin licks of flame flew out from the rock lined fire pit, as sparks and ashes blew out it two brightly lit clouds. The explosion of sparks and ash was timed perfectly with the boom of Taffeit's cannon.

Raze scrambled backwards from the body as it collapsed onto the fire, which inadvertently brought him closer to me. He rocketed up to his feet and turned to me, I noticed that his right shoulder was heavily bandaged and his arm was pressed to his stomach. It seemed that Raze didn't notice that he was at a disadvantage as he grabbed at the closest weapon and aimed it with his left arm.

It was Calder's trident and the sight of it just made me angrier.

The axe was out of my hand before Raze had even coiled his throw. It wedged itself into his left pectoral muscle, deep in the muscle. I could tell, even from a distance, that it was likely deep enough to have marked the bone. Raze dropped to his knees as he clawed at the weapon. Foolishly he pulled the axe from his chest and blood gushed from the gash that the blade left behind. With every beat of his racing heart a torrent of blood welled from the hole and I watched him as he died. It didn't take long for his pulse to start slowing and over all it was about a minute and a half between the blade lodging and the cannon fire.

The second I registered the cannon I turned back to the tree that I'd hidden behind before. I jutted my hands out in front of me, holding them just above the wicked sharp weapon. One swift motion was all I needed and that would be it.

But I couldn't do it. I wasn't scared. My head said it would be easily done and was a great idea. It knew the motion that I needed to make but somewhere between my brain and my hands the message was lost.

All I could think was that Calder was dead. He'd died for me. What did this decision say about Cal's decision?

Something slammed into my side, like I had just been punched with brass knuckles. I turned slowly to my left and looked down at my waist, protruding proudly from my mud stained side was a metal dart adorned with red feathers. I pulled it from my side and dropped it on the forest floor, my head already starting to spin.

I fell forward, slamming my knees painfully into the hard ground. I put my hands out to stop myself falling on my face but I was unable to control my body as it slumped to the side. I landed on the fresh puncture wound and gasped, as a voice boomed around the Arena, just as I lost consciousness.

"The Victor of the 73rd Hunger Games... District Two's Alfie Neilsson."


End file.
